CrossSafe in the media

Local parents overwhelmingly believe unsafe road crossings near schools are actively discouraging healthy habits like walking, cycling and scooting.  

Drawing on CrossSafe survey data, PerthNow reported on the safety fears parents and children experience when walking to school.

This isn’t just a road safety issue. It’s becoming a health and lifestyle issue for our children as well. Efforts to encourage healthy habits are being undermined when families don’t feel safe crossing the road.

In the survey, parents reported choosing to drive their children to school rather than allow them to independently walk, ride or scooter.

With traffic congestion fuelling frustration, the survey findings show widespread concerns about dangerous driver behaviour near school zones, with respondents reporting frequent near-misses and unsafe conditions.

The survey results show:

• 83% had seen speeding through crossings or 40km/h school zones,
• 75% had seen cars failing to give way to pedestrians and
• 74% had experienced a traffic warden not present when expected.

Just as concerning, when asked “How safe do you feel school crossings are in your area?”, nearly 70% of respondents feel school crossings are unsafe, an alarming figure for an issue involving children’s safety.

If you haven’t yet shared your experience, I encourage you to take a few minutes to complete the survey and add your voice. Your feedback will help shape practical solutions to improve school crossing safety across the electorate. Just as importantly, please stay engaged as the CrossSafe initiative continues to grow — together we can make our school journeys safer for every child and family.

‍