School still fears for its children
Staff at Panorama Primary School continue to fear for their learners in the new academic year due to the reckless drivers on Albert Street.
The long-standing problem of negligent driving along Albert Street near Panorama Primary School still remains a critical issue in the new academic year.
This school, which has not found a solution to curb the reckless driving that poses a threat to schoolchildren crossing the road to the school during peak-hour traffic, accused some motorists of ignoring the road signs when travelling towards the school.
They alleged that the motorists ignore all speed-calming measures, including the stop signs, robots and speed humps which have been put in place for the safety of the children.
In an interview with Northsider, the school said it hadn’t done anything from its side and there’s nothing it can do at this stage beside relying on the authorities.
Also Read: Police highlight ‘stranger danger’ at Panorama Primary School
The school initially had a scholar traffic control officer who ended up abandoning his job in fear of being knocked over by disobedient motorists.
In 2017, Jon Rosenberg, the Honeydew Community Policing Forum (CPF) public relations officer, appealed at a CPF meeting to the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) to intervene.
Rosenberg criticised the motorists, who not only endanger themselves, but also the schoolchildren crossing the road to and from school. “People drive at ridiculous speeds right past the school! The area is a 30km/h [speed zone], not even 60 km/h,” he stressed.Rosenberg complained that the stop sign means nothing to some motorists. “The dangerous thing is that one in every ten cars just ignores the three-way stop signs.”He added that some of the children witnessed a horrific accident in the past, when a woman was knocked over.The Northsider visited Albert Street last year, during peak-hour traffic, and found motorists travelling very fast, with most cars ignoring the stop street intersection. The issue was no better on 17 January this year, as the road was congested in both directions.
Previously, the deputy principal, Leon Griffiths, said the school encouraged the learners to cross the road at the traffic lights, but cars still do not stop when they should.
According to Griffiths, the most dangerous time is weekdays from 5am to 7.30am. It becomes worse when taxis are around. He added that parents are always cautioned in the school’s monthly newsletter about the safety of their children and the problem of scholar patrols.
JMPD spokesperson, Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, said he will inform his sergeant to send officers to the trouble-spot.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northsider@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
