St Edmund’s College principal calls for 40kph school zone on Canberra Avenue after students hit by alleged stolen car

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The principal of a Canberra school will petition ‘all levels of government’ to install pedestrian safety measures on Canberra Avenue. It comes for a fortnight after two boys from the school were critically injured when they were struck by an allegedly stolen car putting a spotlight on student safety.

Transcript

00:00It was a moment that shocked St Edmunds College and the wider Canberra community.

00:07It's extraordinary they're both alive.

00:09Aaron's out of hospital, one of the boys is out of hospital making a great recovery.

00:13Aidan's got a bit to go, but he'll get there as well.

00:16The near tragedy breathed new life into a campaign to slow down traffic around the school.

00:22Boys have got less than eight seconds to cross two lanes of traffic at 130 metres.

00:28So I sort of hold my breath and watch them all across the road.

00:32Canberra Avenue is a major route through the ACT.

00:35And the St Edmunds Principal says common sense changes are needed.

00:39Including a 40km per hour zone at certain times of the day.

00:43We understand people need to get to work and the traffic needs to flow.

00:46But we just want them to slow down at critical times.

00:49And we'll be making petitions to government at all levels early in a new term.

00:54Neighbouring school St Clair's is also pushing for safety improvement.

00:58A year ago, it met with ACT bureaucrats to ask for improvements, but nothing was forthcoming.

01:04The government says a 40km zone on Canberra Avenue is unlikely at this stage.

01:09But some things are looking more likely than others.

01:12And so a signalised pedestrian crossing is in that more likely basket.

01:17Worries about kids' safety go beyond Canberra Avenue.

01:20Leaders of schools across the ACT are concerned about driver behaviour, regardless of the speed limit.

01:26Anything from speeding to double parking to blocking access or doing U-turns, you know, in the middle of a really busy street.

01:38Possible dangers the St Edmunds community is now acutely aware of.

01:42It's been two weeks since the incident this morning, so a lot has gone on in that time, of course.

01:47But holidays, as of this afternoon, we'll regroup and renew ourselves.

01:53Taking small steps towards improving safety for students.

01:57We'll be seeing a lot of children in the street.

01:58When we're dealing with staff.

01:59We'll see you later.

02:00We'll see you later in the next session.

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