Concerns over road safety have led pupils at a Monmouthshire primary school to place four warning signs on their bus bay requesting private drivers stay away and park elsewhere.
Because of worries over the likelihood of a mishap due to cars obstructing the school bus drop off point, Raglan Primary School’s seven junior road safety officers contacted Monmouthshire County Council’s highways staff about vehicles parked without authority forcing buses to relocate to a nearby busy road. In addition, the youngsters maintain some cars enter the bus bay – also the route to the adjacent surgery – at speed and are concerned about potential risks incurred crossing to reach school.
Monmouthshire’s Road Safety Officer Carolyn Derosaire met the junior road safety officers with schoolteacher Angela Smith and working in conjunction with the surgery they agreed to design and install the warnings which were sponsored by local company Standard Signs. Raglan headteacher Jeremy Piper commented: “We’re hoping that our brightly coloured signs declaring ‘SCHOOL BUSES ONLY!’ will be effective and they could be adopted by other schools in the county suffering similar issues.”
County Councillor Bryan Jones, the council’s cabinet member for road safety added: “I’m pleased that the young people have taken the initiative to place the signs in the bus bay outside their school and I hope that drivers will take notice. Children, school staff and parents alike are worried that an accident could happen and these warnings give a clear message that motorists must drive and park appropriately. The children should be commended for their help in promoting road safety outside our schools.”
