A 111-signature petition started by a nine-year-old boy that calls for slower speeds outside his school has been presented to Franklin Local Board.
Waiuku subdivision representative Gary Holmes tabled the petition for Caio Maffey at the November business meeting since Caio couldn’t do it himself because he was at school.
All the Āwhitu District School pupil wants is for cars to slow done around his school.
Holmes says it’s come to something when children have to plead for their own safety.
“Everyone has heard safety messages about schools before, yet here we are pleading for something children should be able to take for granted – their own safety.”
Caio wrote: “I think cars drive too fast past our school’s main gate. There have already been car accidents outside the gate, and I am worried that more people will get hurt. If we put speed bumps outside the gate, cars will have to slow down, and it will make it safer for kids and parents.”
School principal Megan Allen sent a letter in support, writing that the current 60kmh speed limit was “much too high” and “posed a significant risk to tamariki, whanau and staff”.
Fellow Waiuku subdivision representative Sharlen Druyven says it’s a terrible indictment that the principal had to write: ‘Despite our efforts over the years to raise awareness and address this issue, we have not yet been successful in achieving any meaningful change’
“We have pleaded with motorists before to slow down, and sadly this is an issue across Franklin.
“The situation became so bad this year that police and Auckland Transport launched a campaign to improve driver behaviour in winter, when bad weather sees more kids dashing across roads, drivers ignoring pedestrian crossings and parents parking dangerously.”
Holmes says we are our own problem. “We are quick to blame others, but we are all part of the problem. We will be taking up Caio’s cause with our AT colleagues and Port Waikato MP Andrew Bayly.”
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