ENSURING our children arrive and leave school safely is behind the ongoing campaign by MidCoast Council, which urges all parents and caregivers to brush up on car parking rules near schools and be aware of the meaning of the signs.

The campaign is aiming to ensure every driver dropping and collecting children at schools in the MidCoast is obeying the rules and our children arrive at, and leave, school safely.

“Many parents say they didn’t understand what the signs mean, usually after they have been cautioned or booked for breaking the rules.  The school environment is very busy as more students are driven to school rather than walk, cycle, or catch a bus,” Council’s Road Safety Officer Chris Dimarco said.

“We can’t emphasise enough how important the parking rules are, especially near our schools.  Across the MidCoast from 2011 – 2015, there were 47 pedestrian injuries and one fatality on our roads.  No one wants to see an accident at any of our schools in the MidCoast region.”

As a simple prompt, the completely red sign that says ‘no stopping’ means that you cannot stop or park at all in that zone.  In zones with a white sign with a ‘no parking’ image, you may stop to set a child down, but you can only stay for two minutes, and the driver must stay within three metres of the vehicle.  It is the responsibility of every licence holder to ensure they know the road rules.

A poster will be distributed by schools to families showing what each sign means and Council is hoping to see all drivers obey the parking rules near our schools.

And watch out for Council rangers, who will be on hand at schools before the end of the year to help drivers learn the rules.

Disobeying the signs attracts fines and demerit points, but the real motivation for Council rangers is making sure every child is safe to arrive and leave school, every day.

And that’s worth making sure that everyone stops safely at MidCoast schools.