Speedsters slowed near schools

SENIOR Constable Bill Atkins uses a hand held laser to detect the speed of drivers outside Te Awamutu Primary School, accompanied by Mr Hooker Bear and pupils Shanae Thompson and Nicole Annan. Safety patrol member Brittney Goodrick keeps a close eye on the traffic along Teasdale Street. Mr Hooker Bear’s visit was as part of a road safety programme by real estate company LJ Hooker. Signs were also put up near schools, pre-schools and Plunket rooms - resulting in many people thinking the properties were for sale! 045061AD

By Cathy Asplin

Several hundred infringement notices were issued around the country last week as part of a national police campaign to curb speeding near schools.

Amazingly two were to school bus drivers and one to a school teacher.

But motorists passing Te Awamutu Primary School, during a visit from Police and Mr Hooker Bear, were well under the limit.

“And long may it continue,” says Te Awamutu Senior Constable Bill Atkins who utilised a hand-held radar to check speeds.

Police patrols have been told to issue tickets and educational pamphlets to anyone exceeding the speed limit near schools by more than 5km, from 7.30am to 9am and 3pm to 4.30pm on school days. This represents a 50% reduction of their normal tolerance (10km) and follows concern that 34 school children were killed, with a further 2055 injured, at those times in the five years to the end of December, 2005.