The 4173 signatures collected on paper and online were presented to Selwyn Mayor Kelvin Coe on June 14. He has now said he supports school speed zones in Selwyn.

Thanks everyone! We will continue to follow this closely.

"We, the undersigned, request the Selwyn District Council to reduce the speed limit to no more than 50 km/h during pick up and drop off times outside all schools in the Selwyn District."

Amy Adams, MP for Selwyn, has launched a petition to the Selwyn District Council for a reduction of speed outside schools in the Selwyn electorate.

 A number of schools still have a speed limit of 100kmh outside their school gates, and Ms Adams is aiming for the speed outside all school to be no more than 50 km/h.

 “How can we expect people to slow down and be prepared for a child when they are permitted to go past a school gate at 100kmh?” says Ms Adams. “The last thing any driver wants to do is hit someone, especially a child.”

 “I regularly hear from principals, teachers, parents and pupils, who all identify speed on rural roads as one of their greatest safety concerns for schoolchildren,” says Ms Adams. “As the legislation stands, local authorities have the power to decide what speed limits should be in and around rural schools.”

 “Rural councils have told me that they're worried that there is little justification for large reductions in speed. They are hesitant to reduce speeds around schools because they worry about a backlash from drivers.” “It isn't good enough to put convenience before the safety of our children. Our communities are calling for this, and council should be delivering.”

 When children are crossing there can be high volumes of traffic, manoeuvring vehicles, and parked vehicles obscuring visibility. Each year between 2001 and 2005, around 500 child pedestrians and cyclists were injured or killed each year during school terms. Speed limits play a fundamental role in effective speed management to encourage, help and require road users to adopt appropriate and safe speeds. Getting drivers to reduce their speed near schools is important, especially as it significantly increases a child's chances of surviving an accident.

 The Ministry of Transport states: “The faster drivers are going the more difficult it is to avoid hitting a pedestrian in their path. An alert driver travelling at 50km/h will travel 30 metres after reaction/braking before coming to a complete stop. The same driver travelling at a 100km/h will move five metres further than this before even reacting and, once braking has started, will travel a further 69 metres before coming to a complete stop.

The speed at which pedestrians are struck is vitally important in determining how seriously they will be injured. Pedestrians stuck at 32 km/h have a 95 percent chance of survival. If they are struck at 48 km/h their survival chance decreases to 55 percent. Finally, once the impact speed reaches 70km/h the survival chance is virtually zero.”

Please sign this petition, which will be presented to the Selwyn District Council on June 14.

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