Lack of traffic calming worries local principals

N LESS than a month two local children were injured when they were knocked over by cars either on their way to or from school. 

Now school principals in the Greenwood Park area are asking why more is not being done to protect their pupils, some who are as young as six.

In May a seven-year-old boy was knocked over by a car in Effingham Road on his way to Greenwood Park Primary School. 

Fortunately the boy only sustained soft tissue injuries and returned to school a week later.
Then, just three weeks later, an eight-year-old girl from Columbia Primary School was knocked over by a car in Chris Hani (North Coast) Road. Again, she was lucky to walk off with just minor injuries. 

But Greenwood Park Primary School pupil, Nothando Kubeka was not as fortunate. 

On 17 September 2010 she lost her life when she was hit by a car crossing Chris Hani Road. Since then, some traffic calming measures have been put in place on Chris Hani and the road leading up to the school, but local schools said that it is not enough. The problem areas include Chris Hani Road, Effingham Road and Mimosa Road. 

Ian Africa, principal of Greenwood Park Primary School, said one of the many solutions it has proposed in the past included a pedestrian bridge over Chris Hani Road, speed bumps in Effingham Road and points men at busy intersections to ensure pupils’ safety when walking to and from school. 

Columbia Primary School concurred with Africa, adding that Effingham Road needs more traffic calming measures.  Although Effingham Heights Primary School is not affected as much as the other schools, principal of the school, Denise Ramasamy said she agreed that more traffic calming was necessary on Effingham Road: “It’s a very busy and narrow road, especially now that there’s roadworks on Queen Nandi Drive.”

The principal of Briardene Primary School, Lenny Bowes, said points men at intersections such as North Coast Road and Mimosa Road in the mornings and afternoons would make ‘a world’s difference’ to the safety of the pupils. 
He said although there have not been incidents where children from his school had been knocked, he still feared that something could happen. 

The Federation of Governing Bodies of South Africa’s deputy chief executive officer, Jaco Deacon, said the organisation was concerned about this, but added school governing bodies’ jurisdiction is limited to the schools ground or school activities. 

“School governing bodies can only request the authorities to do their work and enforce the laws of our country or make recommendations, like the bridge. 

“Schools can focus on road safety and encourage parents to be responsible, but this is a societal problem that will need all roleplayers to work together,” he added. 

Deacon said there’s definitely a budget set out for pedestrian safety, but not specifically for school children and not by the Department of Education as this is not the department’s main responsibility. 

eThekwini Municipality and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education did not respond by the time the paper went to press.