Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke helped spread a message of safety and good health as she visited Temora West Public School on National Walk Safely to School Day today.
Ms Cooke helped students become more aware of the need to be safe pedestrians and emphasised the health benefits of a walk to school.
“This morning is all about celebrating National Walk Safely to School Day, and here in the Cootamundra electorate we’ve got 78 schools,” she said.
“In rural areas we’ve got challenges that big cities don’t have – we may have a low volume of traffic in general, but we’ve got grain trucks, stock trucks, especially in an area like Temora West, so it’s really important that kids learn at an early age exactly how to cross streets safely, how to get to their school safely and then safely home at the end of the day,” she said.
“We’re looking to get those habits going when they’re young so that as they grow older they’ll continue with those great habits,” she added.
There have been no child pedestrian fatalities in operating NSW school zones since 2013 and the NSW Government’s commitment to have at least one set of school zone flashing lights in every school was achieved in January 2016.
By June 2017, the NSW Government also delivered on a $5 million election commitment to roll out additional flashing lights at over 500 school zones.
More than 6,000 school zone flashing lights are now in place across NSW, which is the only state in Australia with a dedicated team of road safety education specialists available to support teachers in the teaching of road safety.
