Its Not Fair!

Last week a 6-year-old Junior Ianuali was run over and killed outside Cannons Creek School in Porirua. To his parents, friends, relatives, school mates and all those who witnessed the accident, even the driver of the car that hit him, this little boy was a child who should have every right to become an adult. However to the NZTA and the Ministry of Transport he will merely be a statistic. It is these statistics and facts and figures that all children and teenagers are up against, when they make their way to and from school and it will take an adult to change this.

Every school child should have that innate right to a safe journey to and from school, but its easy to forget that something as innocent as this journey can be a minefield to students. Especially when they are in the company of their friends, or wanting to join their friends as Junior appears to have been trying to do - a decision paid for with his life. It appears that the car that hit him was unlikely to have been speeding in the 50km/h zone, but few children would survive being hit by a car at that speed. At 50km/h the average car would travel 13 metres while the driver reacts and then the car would travel another 15 metres throughout the process of braking, travelling a massive 28 metres from initial reaction time to coming to a halt.

An here's more figures. If a 30km/h speed limit had been in place in the Cannons Creek School zone, then this tragedy may well have had a different outcome. At 30km/h the car would have travelled a mere 13 metres, perhaps not hitting young Junior at all. The World Health Organisation recommends 20 or 30km/h outside schools and play areas. And the reason behind this advice is that they look at these short areas of the roading system, as places where children can make mistakes without it being their last one. No matter how well children and even teenagers are taught about the dangers of the road, when they are near their mates, their brains often go to mush. Also children's brains are not developed enough to be able to judge the speed of vehicles coming towards them. Just add the mix of friends on the other side of the road and bang, they take their last breath, witnessed by their precious friends and bystanders.

Have a look at the voice of NZTA or Ministry of Transport in the form of their website. There is lots of information about Safer Journeys, but you will struggle to find any mention of speeds that are safe near unpredictable children. It is obviously just inconvenient for children to behave so unpredictably, yet as adults we should nurture them and give them space to make mistakes. The website is all about grown up stuff, about how they, the responsible adults are doing their utmost to not cause us drivers any inconvenience. For me I would always rather slow down and miss an appointment, than hit a child and I can't think of anyone who wouldn't do the same. But until there is a consistent speed limit within school zones in favour of children, slowing down to a safe speed near children will be dangerous, as too many who haven't a clue what they are doing trust the speed limit set and stick with it. I have been in touch with Associate Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges and he tells me that a consistent speed limit outside schools isn't feasible, as did Steven Joyce as Minister of Transport before. Meanwhile Gerry Brownlee remains silent.

A consistent speed limit should be in place outside all schools. No school should have more than 70km/h outside their gates and all schools should have a consistent speed limit of no more than 30km/h during busy periods as recommended. Roads need to be narrowed outside schools, to make drivers want to slow in the area and apart from the usual signage before the school zone, paint on the road should alert drivers that they are entering a school zone. This is one death of an innocent child too many. A consistent speed limit of 30km/h during busy times will save lives. Our politicians need to start behaving like adults and protect our children. It may not be fair to loose precious travel time, but its even less fair that children are being killed. Do your job Simon Bridges and behave like a responsible adult, or perhaps someone will report you to your superior.

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