NEWS

Concerns for children’s safety leaving school

It is only a matter of time before a child is injured due to traffic congestion outside Driffield Junior School.
This is the worrying concern expressed by Driffield Town Councillor Kevin Stack after he raised the problems on the roads outside the school on the corner of Bridlington Road and Wansford Road.

He is urging parents to be considerate when parking to drop off or collect their children and is calling for officers from East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Highways department to monitor the situation and enforce parking restrictions if necessary.
He raised his concerns at a meeting of the Driffield Town Council. Following the meeting he told the Wolds Weekly: “My concern is the cars double parking on both Bridlington Road and on Wansford Road.

“Parents are crossing the road with their children between the parked cars and I believe it is only a matter of time before a child is involved in an accident.

“My other concern is that traffic is bottle-necking at this busy junction because it cannot flow freely through the traffic lights.

“There is a fire station further up Bridlington Road and if there was an emergency, it would be very difficult to get the fire engine through.

“I would urge parents where possible to walk to school or to park considerately.”

He added that the Town Council would be writing to the Highways department at the East Riding Council asking them to monitor the problems.

Cllr Stack added: “Restrictions on parking near the school could help, either by stopping cars parking on one side of the road or by having a restriction during peak times.
“I would also like to see our PCSOs patrolling the area and if necessary moving on vehicles which are causing an obstruction.

“As a councillor I will be monitoring the situation and I will do my best to get the situation sorted out.”

Linda Laird, headteacher of Driffield Junior School, said she welcomed any support that is available to help ensure the safety of the pupils.
She said: “As headteacher, I share the concerns that were raised at the town council meeting.

“The problem time is at home time, around 3.30pm, when more than 400 children are leaving school at the same time and several are being collected by car.

“The crossing itself is a major worry as the school is situated on such a busy junction with traffic approaching from four directions.

“Drivers sometimes go through the lights before they have fully changed to green and children, as we know, are not always as ‘road aware’ as they need to be.

“Some cars are driving far too fast and I worry that, should a child step onto the road at the wrong time, they will not have enough reaction time to be able to stop.”

She added that children at the school receive pedestrian training in Year 4 from the local authority to help raise their awareness of the potential dangers and they are taught how to cross roads safely.

She said that parking near the school is another real concern. “I do understand the pressures parents have at the end of the school day, especially if they have to collect children from different schools or nurseries.

“Parking in and around school is limited so I would always advise that parents walk to collect children wherever possible or, alternatively, park a little further away to ease congestion near school, and then walk the last part of the journey.”

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