Parents in regional Victoria want safety measures introduced to address traffic issues around schools. The issue has been brought into sharp focus in the state this month following the deaths of a student in Hawthorn east and a teacher's aide in Riddell’s Creek both hit by vehicles on school grounds. In regional towns where schools are often beside highways parents and teachers say the lack of action could have fatal consequences.
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00:00Cathy Mitchich was about to turn into Scottsburn Primary School in Ballarat to pick up her
00:07grandson when she was hit head-on by another car.
00:10Her car was totaled and she went to hospital in an ambulance before being released with
00:15minor injuries.
00:16Everyone was OK.
00:17There's a 100km road so it's frightening to be there where it's too right.
00:24The community has been campaigning for years to have the speed reduced and flashing lights
00:28installed.
00:29But the Department of Transport says the school isn't directly on the highway due to the service
00:34road that has a 40km an hour limit.
00:37Having a 100km an hour speed zone anywhere near a school is the definition of road safety
00:43insanity.
00:45The ABC has spoken to regional schools across the state with similar issues.
00:50At Moyston in Western Victoria, these kids have to cross a major highway without a pedestrian
00:56crossing and parents say their concerns have been ignored.
00:59I find it very frustrating given we're a small primary school it should definitely be a priority.
01:06While in Eastern Victoria, Leangatha Primary School parents fear for their kids' safety
01:11after a student was hit by a car, breaking both his legs.
01:15It is devastating but there's way too much traffic and not enough safety around here.
01:20Schools are a particular example where you get high pedestrian concentration.
01:24Pedestrians are very vulnerable to trauma when they're hit at any significant speed.
01:29The Department of Transport says it will continue to work with the City of Ballarat to identify
01:33improvements where possible.
01:35But the community says something needs to be done now, before it's too late.
01:41Someone could die on this intersection and it always seems to be someone dies and then
01:46something is done.