Parents dropping kids to school cause jams

Dubai - Expert says both children and motorists need to work together to promote better safety on the roads.

Schoolchildren should treat the school bus as an extension of the classroom says road safety expert, Thomas Edelmann.
On Sunday, the UAE welcomed hordes of signature yellow and black school buses back on the roads as the new school term began.
Usual scenes of chaotic traffic around school drop-off and pick-up points will be omnipresent again but Founder and Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE, Edelmann, said both children and motorists need to work together to promote better safety on the roads.
"Kids...must listen to instructions, buckle up, look after each other, be careful when entering and exiting the bus."
With school traffic notoriously creating a lot of congestion around schools, Edelmann said impatient behaviour by parents dropping-off or collecting kids, as well as passing-by motorists "pose the biggest safety risk" to children.
"A lack of attention by kids crossing streets and interacting with the dense car traffic (is also to blame)," he said. According to statistics from the UAE Ministry of Interior, 55 children - under the age of 18 - died in road accidents in 2014.
In the same year, 572 youngsters sustained moderate to serious injuries, and overall child deaths accounted for more than seven per cent of the 712 people killed in road accidents across the country.
Though these statistics do not directly relate to all road accidents caused as a result of increased congestion due to school traffic, there is a big strategic importance to promote proper conduct starting at the schools.
"This is a great opportunity for kids (and parents) to learn to always buckle up, to cross the street safely, and to treat other traffic participants in a respectful and caring manner," Edelmann said.
For motorists who find themselves at their wits end as a result of school traffic, proper time management can help alleviate their frustration. "Traffic congestion brings out the worst in traffic participants but around schools especially, we do not want to see dangerous traffic situations." The biggest contributor to congestion are parents trying to drop their children off on time, often very close to the school starting time, as well as picking them up right after the school ends.
"Parents should show a caring time management attitude by dropping kids off early and well in advance of the school time."
Picking them up a little bit after the school ends can help too, he said.
A lack of motorists' education with regards to dealing with school buses also needs attention. Despite the fact that school buses deploy stop-signs and warning lights when students board or disembark the bus, many motorists ignore the signs, resulting in dangerous situations.
So motorists passing-by, need to be "extra careful" with the school-traffic concerned participants too.
As the new school term gets under way, RoadSafetyUAE is working with Mercedes-Benz, an expert in school buses, in providing safe conduct guidelines for motorists when interacting with school buses.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
@KTUAEReporters

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