School zones are back

The police were out in front of Turner School this morning, with speed gun.

If there are high numbers of speeders, and a bit of pressure from the school community, you too could have speed bumps put in front of your school like O’Connor Co-op.

Anyway, there are people who will listen if you complain enough about bad traffic. The last thing the police want is an injured kid and evidence of 20 complaints made about the area without the police having done anything.

And it will keep them off Commonwealth Ave Bridge. When was the last time there was ever an accident there (at least apart from people trying to cross by dodging the traffic)?

Jivrashia said :

ajd said :

just in pick up/drop off times as in NSW?

And miss the opportunity to raise revenue during the period that doesn’t matter (e.g. school time 9:30am~2:30pm)

Don’t be silly.

So how often have you seen police do speed checks in school zones? I’ve seen them once in the 10 years I’ve been driving in Canberra. And once or twice have I seen a police car pull someone over in a school zone, but I’m sure that wasn’t part of any organised activity.

And whether or not you think it is a good idea to have the school zone limit apply all day, the people that will ignore them in the middle of the day are sure to be the same people ignoring them at drop off and pick up times. Selfish pr!cks with no regard for anyone but themselves. And when they get caught, it’s not as if they’ve ever done anything wrong. Oh no, it’s only because the pesky police needs to raise revenue.

Fine the lot of them into poverty!

ajd said :

just in pick up/drop off times as in NSW?

And miss the opportunity to raise revenue during the period that doesn’t matter (e.g. school time 9:30am~2:30pm)

Don’t be silly.

The people most prone to speeding in school zones seem to be parents, in my observation. Hey, their kids are safe… The Qbn school zones are very well patrolled by the plod, and they catch a lot. However recently they installed flashing signs that flash during the restriction hours, and only on school days. I’ve noticed a lot more people slowing down now, and the cops are losing interest. The odd P plater zooms through but that’s about it.

I’m sure this comment has been made before, but wouldn’t school zones be a logical place to put speed cameras? We’ve already trained people to slow down at known camera locations …

Watson, it drives me crazy to see drivers ignoring school zones also, especially when they compound the offence by using a mobile phone at the same time, as I saw one young lady doing a few weeks ago. When my kids were still at school, I developed a system of flashing my lights at these idiots (to indicate the “presence” of police) as a remarkably effective method of slowing them down.
I recall doing this to a tradie type years ago- he promptly ground to a halt, waved at me gratefully, did a u-turn and fled! Hmmm, unregistered perhaps ? DUi maybe? Who knows?
In any case, I am unrepentant about the duplicity- I just wish we had more police available to catch those with such disregard for kids.
As for colleges, I think there is some merit in retaining the lower speed limits, more to discourage P platers from engaging in ridiculous driving behavior in front of their peers, than those who may be crossing the road. That said, it’s not uncommon to see large mobs of college students, replete with Ipods in ears, rough-housing while crossing the road to the nearest mall. Teenagers are not renowned for their awareness, so I’m happy to take an extra few seconds to ensure they live to irritate their parents for another day !

I find it ammusing that the public should be constantly reminded of road rules.Why not just shut down access to all Canberra roads and treat everyone like idiots like the Corin Dam Road closure.

wildturkeycanoe said :

So if children aren’t mature enough to not run out in front of cars, etc. why do they have a school zone outside the library/college in Gungahlin and every other college in A.C.T? I would think a teenager is quite capable of using a pedestrian crossing the same manner as any adult. If they can’t learn a simple life saving lesson like look right, look left….what is the point of them going to school at all?
Also, how confusing is it near Charnwood shops, to have school zone signs not covered up on holidays? If it is still a 40 zone because of daycare or the like, how many people fall into the trap of thinking it’s school holidays and the sign doesn’t apply, only to be booked for something they believed to be perfectly legal?

I came across a school zone sign that wasn’t covered up whilst doing a driving test during school holidays years ago. And the driving test guy told me that legally I had to follow the speed limit if the sign was visible, regardless of whether it was supposed to be there or not.

I wonder whose responsibility it is to cover up those signs? Our local school’s have been visible all of these holidays too.

And I do kind of agree that school zones are not needed at colleges or tertiary institutions. And there’s quite a few around town that seem just badly chosen and where I have never seen a child – even at drop-off or pick-up time. But better too many than not enough, I guess.

I always followed the school zone limits religiously, but now I have a child myself, I get even more angry to see drivers ignore them. I have been known to yell abuse at them, I can’t help myself. And I grin widely if I ever see one getting booked – which doesn’t happy often enough. If they ever want to trial hidden speed cameras, school zones is where they should start.

The illegal parking at school also gets my goat. How can parents be so oblivious of other kids’ safety??? The mind boggles.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Also, how confusing is it near Charnwood shops, to have school zone signs not covered up on holidays? If it is still a 40 zone because of daycare or the like, how many people fall into the trap of thinking it’s school holidays and the sign doesn’t apply, only to be booked for something they believed to be perfectly legal?

I’ve yet to see a police car patrolling it though, but daycare centers run through holidays – and the signs are out; so the speed limit applies (otherwise they’d be folded and locked). I also wonder about the road work sign (northbound) on Ginninderra Drive nearby (for Tillyard Dr roadworks). It says “roadwork on side road” with a 60 sign. Does that mean you should be doing 60 on that short stretch of Ginninderra, or only on Tillyard, if you turn into it?

Watson said :

Huh? Do you live in Canberra? School zone speed limits apply all day from 8am till 4pm..

It looks like i misread his comment, i thought he meant that nsw is 40km/hr all day. i stand corrected.