‘Safety First’ campaign

Hawkesbury City Council is launching a ‘Safety First’ campaign to improve pedestrian safety in and around school zones.

Starting this week until Friday, 2 August, Council’s Community Enforcement officers will be visiting local schools to talk with parents and carers about appropriate parking behaviour within school zones. They will also discuss the penalties for illegal parking.

Their discussions will work towards reducing unsafe parking habits such as double parking or stopping at pedestrian and children’s crossings, the Mayor of Hawkesbury, Councillor Barry Calvert explained.

“Our Council officers are aiming to help parents and carers to avoid parking illegally within the school zone; this is to help keep school children safe,” Councillor Calvert said.

Following this education campaign, a zero-tolerance approach will be applied from Monday, 5 August 2019 in order to gain practical safety results.

After this time, drivers of illegally parked vehicles in school zones will be issued with penalty notices, which will include 2 demerit points. To reinforce responsible driver behaviour, Community Enforcement officers will provide morning and afternoon patrols at peak times.

Council is supporting this community initiative through targeted information and education for the school community. Several local principals have completed a Council survey to identify key pedestrian safety and driver behaviour issues around their individual schools. Council is using this information as part of its educational strategies to improve pedestrian safety and driver behaviour within school zones. If you have further enquiries about this campaign, please contact Council’s Community Safety Coordinator Judy Wong at [email protected] or call 4560 4498. For more details about school safety from Council’s website, visit www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/roads/road-safety/school-safety