Students from Lurgybrack National School were just one of the schools involved in the Donegal Road Safety Group’s “Safety at the Gate Day” activities – urging motorists to slow down near schools.
On Monday and Tuesday, events also took place at Kilbarron NS in Ballyshannon, Ballylast NS in Castlefin, and Scoil Phadraig in Doire, with members of An Garda Siochana in attendance as well.
The campaign wants to raise awareness of the dangers of speed near school gates, which have large volumes of traffic nearby, including many children walking and cycling to school, and reminding drivers of their responsibility to be mindful of all road users.
The relevance of the campaign was proved on Tuesday, when two drivers were caught speeding outside Kilbarron NS in Ballyshannon as the road safety campaign was going on.
Garda Inspector Seamus McGonigle stated that “Road users are urged to take particular care at schools and to strictly adhere to speed limits and other traffic regulations. A number of concerning incidents have recently been reported and it is incumbent on us all to slow down to an appropriate speed and respect pedestrians at all times”.
Green-Schools Travel Officer, Áine O’Loughlen reports that “recent speed surveys conducted by Green-Schools Travel nationwide show that over 50% of vehicles surveyed were found to be speeding”.
Chris Harley, Road Safety Officer stated, “There is a large percentage of road users who do not slow down outside schools. We need to get the message to all road users, that they must slow down outside schools and always obey the speed limit. We would encourage a significant reduction in speed during school drop off and collection periods when the peak activity occurs.”
