NSW Roads Minister David Borger says he'll consider requests from preschools and childcare centres for 40kmh zones in the style of school zones, and that promises to make running the gauntlet of speed limits even more fraught. As it is now NSW drivers contend with a mishmash of speed limits that can require more attention than the actual driving - add preschool and childcare zones and the mishmash would become unfathomable in many urban areas.
Preschools and childcare centres do not necessarily keep school hours, and some are open to children arriving and leaving all day. Would the state government install flashing lights for such zones or would it delay the installation of such lights in the interests of revenue, as it did with school zones?
There is a major difference between children at schools and preschools, one that suggests 40km/h zones for preschools are not the least necessary. That is that while children at schools arrive and leave under their own steam, the small children at preschools and childcare centres are always directly and closely supervised by an adult. If they're not we need to close the facility, not install a new trap for drivers.
In my column in The Herald today I argue that if the state government is intent on increasing revenue, 40km/h zones should be installed at a number of other places before preschools and childcare facilities. Around McDonald's, for example, and cinemas, pools and beaches. And how about on roads passing a group of homes that have more than 10 children?
Would not the fairest result for all be a 40km/h limit throughout urban areas?
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