Sandwell youngsters urge better parking on school site
Youngsters at a Cradley Heath school are working with road safety officers to tackle inconsiderate parking near the site.
The pupils at Reddal Hill Primary School, in Mace Street, are warning drivers 'don't be a fool, park away from our school'.
Parents and carers dropping children off at the school are routinely caught parking on double yellow lines, blocking zig zag markings and causing obstructions – despite fines being issued by Sandwell Council’s parking enforcement officers and the CCTV camera car.
The school is working with the council's road safety team to tackle the inconsiderate parking. The team has run road safety assemblies at the school and pupils have designed banners pleading with drivers to park more sensibly.
Highway engineers are now reviewing parking restrictions around the school and will be putting in pedestrian railings outside the nursery entrance.
Reddal Hill headteacher, Ann Bashir-Pugh, said: "I am extremely proud of all the pupils at Reddal Hill Primary for taking part in this fabulous competition to design a road safety banner.
“The pupils have produced some wonderful and creative designs. This is such an important campaign to help raise awareness of road safety.
“I am very concerned about the safety of our pupils and really hope that these banners send a clear message to all our parents and carers. Hopefully, this will encourage them to park considerately and to help keep our pupils safe.”
Councillor David Hosell, the council's cabinet member for highways and environment, added: "It is a sad state of affairs when it’s the parents, relatives and carers of our own schoolchildren who are putting young lives at risk by parking badly outside our schools.
“It is not just a problem at Reddal Hill – we are working with several schools across Sandwell to tackle problems with parking and speeding.
“We hope the pupils themselves telling parents not to ‘park like fools’ might hit home and encourage drivers to make better choices and stop putting children and other road users in danger."
