Page 3255 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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Great Policy. I hope the end result is as positive. Thank you for your support as this project will save lives and families may even walk to school.
Secondly:
If I understand the thinking aright, the proposal is to clearly identify the zone and the time of day in which speed restrictions are in force. This has to be a positive move, especially in areas where there is high traffic volume. The purpose is to alert drivers to changing their behaviours rather than catching them doing the wrong thing! I like it very much.
They are just two of many positive responses we have got as a result of releasing this initiative. However, despite receiving positive feedback from parents, teachers, principals and others, the education minister, Chris Bourke, described the policy as “bizarre”. Whilst the notion of installing flashing lights in school zones is too complex for Minister Bourke to comprehend, calling it bizarre is just plain weird, even by Dr Bourke’s standards.
I wonder if he thought the New South Wales Labor government’s trial of flashing lights was bizarre. When Morris Iemma said, “This new technology is reliable, highly visible and doing a good job slowing people down in school zones,” was that bizarre? The only thing that is bizarre is how under Hare-Clark the person who came 13th in the election can somehow become a minister—if not a minister in performance, certainly one by salary.
Schools across the border are benefiting from a New South Wales government initiative to deliver similar lights and signage at their schools. We believe ACT schools should be afforded the same safety measures. Whilst some motorists will consciously speed through school zones, most, I believe, do so because of a momentary lack of concentration or poor signage. Whilst this is no excuse for speeding, it is an issue which flashing lights can help address. If these lights save one life, they will be a success. If these lights help avoid an accident, they will be a success. If these lights help more people feel confident walking to school, they will be a success. If these lights raise awareness of schools in our community and remind people of the community reach of suburban schools, they will be a success.
Our policy will complement existing policing, community awareness and school-specific measures aimed at combating speeding and other road safety issues in and around Canberra’s schools. Our policy, as I said earlier, will complement other strategies which we believe are already partially effective, but lights will be even more so. We believe all schools are deserving of such lights, and that is why the opposition supports the implementation of these lights across the city.
There is considerable evidence and much support for the rollout of flashing lights in school zones across Australia. In fact, a number of governments are implementing similar policies to the one Mr Seselja and I announced in May. Whilst the safety risks differ according to the circumstances of each school zone, we believe all schools would benefit from flashing lights.
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