Speeding cars close to school a concern for parents
Members of the community fear a speeding car could kill a child if something is not done.
Parents and teachers at Zwartkop Christian School are highly concerned about speeding cars on the road opposite the school.
The road has a speed limit of 40km/h, but parents say this rule is rarely obeyed by motorists and fear for the safety of the learners who use the road every day.
“They drive like maniacs in the mornings here.
“We have had several incidents in the past where parents and their children were almost killed by a car,” said the concerned parent of two boys, Lee-Ann Alexander.
Fearing that a tragedy might occur on the road, parents and teachers sent a complaint letter to the metro in August.
The metro responded by saying they will not be installing stop signs or speed humps on this road because the school is situated in a low priority area.
“The area of concern is already an isolated access control residential suburb.
“The fact that your area is isolated cause the traffic calming request will receive a low priority point according to our evaluation system.
“This section received very limited funds for traffic calming and only the absolute high priority areas can be considered,” said Frank Lambert of the metro’s Transport Systems and Traffic Engineering section.
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He further added that enclosed communities should come up with other solutions.
“Enclosed communities should consider alternative communication methods to spread the word to appreciate and respect each other to improve road safety matters which is of concern.
“The community is welcome to engage with this section and metro police to discuss alternative ways to address the traffic speeding problem.”
Parents found this response unacceptable and want something to be done.
“How can they tell us our children aren’t a priority?
“Our children are very important to us and we don’t want to see a death of a child in our community,” said Alexander.
“My boy is seven years old and we fear every day that a car will run him over if something isn’t done.”
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Parents have taken it upon themselves to ensure the safety of their children by patrolling the streets and indicating for cars to slow down.
They also repainted the “stop areas” on the road clearer for motorists but this yielded very little results.
“These are parents who work full-time, why should they take the time out of their day to tell people to obey school rules?
“We are angry and we want answers,” said Alexander.
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