Poor driving and parking behaviour around the school was putting the school community at great risk and is the reason why the P & C’s Traffic and Safety Committee took on the challenge of changing this.

Their “Drive and Park Safely Near Schools Initiative” targeted behavioural change through a robust process that included:

• establishing baseline data through observing and documenting unsafe driving and parking behaviour
• providing the data and examples of unsafe driving and parking to the local council for their consideration
• consulting with the school community about their road safety concerns
• collaborating with the local council’s Road Safety Officer to address the concerns and develop strategies to better manage the traffic environment
• preparing school community resources, including maps of safety hotspots
• educating the school community about legal and safe driving and parking via social media, the Flexi Schools app and school newsletters.

Derek Mascarenhas, the P & C’s lead of the initiative summed it up like this:

"Overwhelmingly, parents expect others to do the right thing, however, some simply do not expect themselves to do the same. We all have a responsibility to drive and park safely around schools.”

The result has seen a drastic improvement in safe road user behaviours by the whole school community.

If your school could benefit from a similar initiative contact:

• your local Department of Education Road Safety Education Officer
• your local council