It's back to school for students and a return to school zone speed limits for drivers in Wollongong.
School drop offs and pick-ups are always a busy time of the day. That's why we're reminding everyone to take care when driving near schools, follow the road rules and observe school speed limits.
Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said that road safety is a responsibility for everyone.
"As students return to school for term one, we'll be rolling out the annual, state-wide Back to School campaign to remind road users to drive safely while travelling around schools. Road safety is a job for everyone, and we rely on drivers to do the right thing while in the car."
"Our Parking Compliance Team will also be patrolling roads surrounding schools to provide road safety education and to take regulatory action when appropriate. If you're doing the wrong thing, you will be observed, and you may receive a fine."
Wollongong City Council has a commitment to improving safer routes to schools for all members of our community. To achieve this, we work collaboratively with Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to manage roads around schools in the Wollongong Local Government Area.
A more detailed breakdown of the different responsibilities of TfNSW and Council can be found on the TfNSW website.
"Road safety is something we want to continue to improve, especially around our schools. Last year we worked closely with our community to improve safety by investigating and implementing 12 requests for 12 different schools involving changes to school zone parking and raise road safety awareness," said Cr Bradbery.
"We've also installed a number of permanent pedestrian 'Look Out Before You Step Out' footpath signs at crossing points to reinforce safe crossing practices for students. We'll continue to make improvements to school zone safety with the help of the Safer Routes to School working group."
Council's Safer Routes to School working group is responsible for reviewing and investigating school zone safety requests. The working group recommends behavioural and infrastructure improvements to enhance road safety and encourage walking and riding to and around schools.
