A STONEHAVEN Councillor made a special plea this week for signage alerting drivers to take care around schools to be put in place when temporary 20mph limit signs are removed.
Cllr Alan Turner’s comments were made as the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee considered the results of a statutory public consultation before agreeing the speed limit order required to implement the national 20mph strategy that will reduce speeds from 30mph on almost all of our streets.
At the moment, schools may have temporary speed restrictions during school drop-off and pick-up times, with flashing lights reminding drivers of the need to slow down. These restrictions aim to enhance safety for children travelling to and from school.
But when the local authority implements the more universal 20mph limit later this year, the additional signs outside schools will have to be removed.
Mr Turner said this could bring a potential ‘unintended consequence’ of the traffic order aimed at improving road safety.
”My concern is the loss of the flashing lights, which are an additional alert to drivers,” he said.
And Mr Turner, who chairs the Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, is proposing the installation of appropriately timed flashing light signs across Aberdeenshire to remind drivers of the likelihood of children crossing roads near schools.
Cllr Alan Turner does not want an impact on the safety of school children to be an unintended consequence of a road traffic order