Tuesday 19 March 2024
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School’s plea to speeding drivers PAULA HULBURT Children at a Marlborough primary school are calling for drivers to slow down and help prevent a potential tragedy. Pupils at Spring Creek School have launched a bid to get drivers travelling along Ferry Road to stick to the speed limit. Principal Cheryl Alderlieste says drivers often race past the school and fears it is only a matter of time before something serious happens. “I do not want to be the principal of a school who has to deal with the aftermath. “It’s a huge, huge concern.” Ferry Road’s 50 km/h limit drops to 40km/h during school hours. The school opens at 8am and closes at 3.30pm so there are children there most of the day. But some motorists are ignoring the limits completely, clocking speeds of up to 70 km/h at times. Large trucks are a particular cause for concern, Cheryl says.
“I’m aware that sometimes trucks sound like they’re going a little bit faster than they are but when we measured the speed with the children quite a few were going well over 50km/h.” Cheryl contacted some of the trucking firms with her concerns and the issue did briefly improve. But the many are back to breaking the speed limit. Children have been creating large warning signs to hang on the fence next to the road. Urging drivers to slow down, the signs will hopefully remind road users to stick to speed limits. Cheryl says there have been some near misses in the past. “In five minutes, the kids counted 20 vehicles speeding. “It absolutely shocked me [vehicle speeds] when I first started at the school and it’s getting worse.” Cheryl has recently bought traffic cones and orange flags for the school crossing to let drivers know they need to slow down.
Spring Creek School pupils Karizma McKenzie, Nia Badenhorst, Louis Booker and Zander Lee with principal Cheryl Alderlieste. Photo: Paula Hulburt.
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