As part of National Road Safety week pupils at Sharp Lane Primary school are taking part in a competition to design posters to raise awareness of the new 20mph scheme outside their school.
Pupils from the school have been invited to submit their designs to the school travel team with the winning design being fixed to the bottom of the new 20mph signs. Pupils from across all classes will also take part in a day of practical road safety activities today.
The theme of this year’s road safety week is ‘Slower Speeds Means Happy People’ with motorists being asked to slow down around homes, schools and shops where pedestrians and cyclists are particularly vulnerable.
To support the national campaign and in addition to the event at Sharp Lane, Leeds City Council’s road safety team have supplied all Primary schools with information and ideas about how to run their own road safety sessions and assemblies in schools to help our young road users to learn about staying safe on our roads.
Last year 297 road users were killed or seriously injured on Leeds roads. Although this figure is declining year on year, and the 2011 figure was the lowest ever recorded, this is still a shockingly high figure.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council executive board member with responsibility for development and the economy said:
“Supporting Brake Road Safety Week is important to the council and it is important to remind drivers to slow down for their own safety and the safety of others.
“I would urge drivers to give consideration to tricky road and weather conditions such as ice, heavy rain, fog or poor light and slow down, particularly around schools and residential areas where there are more likely to be pedestrians and cyclists.“
In addition to the Road Safety sessions run by the council’s road safety team, the event at Sharp Lane will also be supported by Pickfords who will be helping children learn about the dangers of crossing near large vehicles; West Yorkshire Police who will work with children to use a radar activated Speed Indicating Device to detect vehicle speeds and give motorists a very visual reminder to slow down around the school, and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service who will help pupils learn about what action to take in the case of an emergency.
The Sharp Lane Primary School 20mph scheme is part of a wider programme being implemented by the council, designed to make our roads safer to encourage walking and cycling around residential areas. The council are currently looking to introduce around twenty to thirty 20mph schemes around schools and residential areas each year, working through an extensive list and prioritising and tackling the areas based on road injury accident data.
