By Effie Caloutas
Concerned parent Jason Fox says a recent survey shows the urgent need for electronic 40km/h signs to be installed near Kallista Primary School.
Pleas for the signs to be put in place have been ongoing over many years.
For more than 12 months, there have been calls for the Victorian Government to address the issue of many vehicles exceeding the 40km/h speed limit during school hours.
Since VicRoads last year refused to install the signs near the school, more than 200 people have signed a petition.
Mr Fox has led the push through forwarding a report to Victorian Education Minister, James Merlino, about numerous drivers travelling at high speeds.
In April, VicRoads conducted testing on Monbulk Road outside the school, recording traffic volumes and speeds that Mr Fox says show the number of vehicles travelling at high speeds around the area.
“It clearly shows the need for electronic 40km/h signs, as it shows during school times that up to 79 per cent of vehicles travelling through this speed zone are actually speeding and doing up to 73km/h,” he said.
“That is 1500 to 1600 vehicles per day speeding through the school zone.”
According to the five-day Traffic Focus Counts Survey, recorded on Wednesday 26 April, it was found that 67.55 per cent of drivers travelled above the posted speed limit of 40km/h, which increased to 79.05 per cent as of Tuesday 2 May.
It was found that a high percentage of people were going over the speed limit between 2pm and 4pm, with 55.53 per cent of drivers going over the speed limit on Thursday 27 April.
Mr Fox said he hoped the findings from the survey could be a step in the right direction.
“I don’t think that it can be any clearer on how dangerous the school zone can be. Now we have evidence to back it up,” he said.
