School's back this week, so Queensland motorists are reminded to slow down and put road safety front of mind.
Hundreds of thousands of Queensland students will be travelling to and from school from Tuesday.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said some of them would be taking the journey to school for the first time.
"Some of our youngest students will be excited and nervous to start their first day of school," Mr Bailey said.
"The peripheral vision of a young child is a third narrower than an adult's, which means they have difficulty seeing vehicles and, being small, can also be harder for drivers to spot.
"Make sure to slow down near schools during the specified school zone times, usually 7am to 9am and 2pm to 4pm, unless otherwise signed.
"You'll have a much better chance of stopping in time if you are travelling at the correct speed.
"Regardless of whether the signs are the flashing or static type, drivers need to be aware of school areas and check school zone time when they're driving through."
Mr Bailey said the Queensland Government had installed flashing school zone signs at more than 950 school zones across Queensland to help draw more attention to the lower speed limits.
"100 school zones will have flashing signs installed in the next two financial years, meaning we're on track to see 1000 of these signs rolled out across the state since the safety sign program began," he said.
Mr Bailey said school crossing supervisors also played an important role in road safety around schools.
"For 35 years, school crossing supervisors have played a vital role in helping our youngest get to and from the school gate," Mr Bailey said.
"In all of that time the supervisor scheme has been operating, there has not been one fatality at a supervised crossing.
"More than 2000 school crossing supervisors are employed to keep children safe around Queensland schools and our government has committed an additional $4.2 million over two years to fund 50 new school crossing supervisor positions for the growing schools that need them."
Queensland drivers can become road safety heroes by following a simple 'ABC' reminder:
A: Always slow down near schools.
B: Be alert and obey the instructions of school crossing supervisors.
C: Carefully read school zone signs when driving in a school zone. Mr Bailey said lower speed zone limits would be enforced near schools from tomorrow to help counter this and keep our children safe.
Parents and carers should remind their children about the best ways to stay safe on and near the road.
Here's some tips for the talk:
- Cross the road at the safest possible point such as traffic lights, a pedestrian (zebra) crossing, refuge, or a position highly visible to drivers
- If they ride a bike, lookout for dangers like cars reversing out of driveways, plan the safest travel route and wear a helmet
- For students catching the bus or train, encourage them to leave with plenty of time to spare so they aren't tempted to rush near the road to catch their service
- Talk about the dangers of wearing headphones and listening to music when crossing roads.
