Road Safety Around Schools

A letter from Maroondah City Council

Maroondah City Council and Victoria Police work in partnership with local road safety stakeholders and the community to improve the safety of road users in the municipality, including school students of all ages.The purpose of this letter is to advise your school community about actions being taken by Council to improve the safety of students, and to encourage the members of the school community to use positive road safety practices around schools.

Council has installed a variety of road safety treatments around schools. These include traffic calming devices, line marking and parking restriction signs. Council’s Local Laws Officers regularly patrol all Schools in Maroondah to enforce the Road Safety Road Rules 2017 (the Road Rules) and contributes to the cost of employing school crossing supervisors.

School Crossing Supervisors work tirelessly to provide a safe environment for pedestrians to safely cross the road. We ask all members of the school community who utilise our School Crossings to adhere to all instructions and signals from the Supervisor. Likewise, for motorists, we ask that they keep a watchful eye for pedestrians and stop batons at our school crossings. Any dangerous driving conduct by motorists will be reported to Victoria Police for follow-up action.

With regard to enforcement of the Road Rules, Local Laws Officers regularly monitor school crossings and surrounding areas, issuing Parking Infringement Notices to drivers of vehicles observed breaching the Road Rules. This is done on a rotating roster basis, with attendance at schools being randomly undertaken.

Maroondah City Council will undertake a combination of highly visible static patrols and vehicle patrols utilizing on-board offence detection cameras. A Local Laws Officer has no obligation to speak with a driver who has committed an offence, nor provide any form of warning. Parking Infringement Notices can be posted to the registered owner of a vehicle, if detected committing an offence, in accordance with the Infringements Act 2006 and Infringements Regulations 2016.

We wish to reiterate that ensuring safety around schools is paramount, as well as maintaining a smooth flow of traffic during pick-up and drop-off times. Under the Road Rules, the onus is on the driver to be familiar and follow all Road Rules associated with parking and stopping. As such new and current parents of your school should become familiar with parking restrictions and remain vigilant in the event of any changes to these restrictions.

Achieving motorists’ compliance with the Road Rules assists to provide a safe environment for children and other pedestrians. Council appreciates the work that school communities undertake in promoting road safety and driver compliance to the Road Rules. This often includes the provision of road safety information in meetings, assemblies and newsletters and making parents aware of the risk to children of illegal driving and parking practices.

To assist you with delivering this message, you will soon receive an email from Council enclosing information regarding the most common Road Rules around Schools. This will include a digital pamphlet that can be used to distribute to the School Community.By working together in partnership, Maroondah City Council and the school community can enhance the road safety of children attending your school. Should you have any concerns / queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact the Local Laws Department via 1300 88 22 33.

Timothy Hughes

Team Leader Parking Services

Maroondah Council