Children travelling to and from school in communities adjacent to the N4 highway will now be safer during their commute.

This is due to the ‘Safe to School’ project launched by the Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire.

Charmaine van Wyk, Bakwena’s public relations manager, said the pilot project was launched along several toll routes along the N4 highway to ensure the safety of children in the Bapong, Modderspruit and Majakaneng communities.

She explained that the project intends to make drivers more cautious on the road by reducing their speed around school zones. Improving the safety of children crossing roads near schools, encouraging children who walk or cycle to school using safe routes, improving the safety around school entrances so children can be dropped off and picked up safely, and improving the safety of children being driven to school, also remain key priorities.

Van Wyk said the first phase of the project will be completed by the end of this month. This phase includes the training of project staff, sharing project concepts with schools, training of the disaster team and road safety officers using the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), and data collection.

She said phase two of the project will commence after the July school holidays with education activities for learners and the community, enforcement activities and infrastructure provision and maintenance.

“Once the data collection is complete, community workshops will be held to share the information and get feedback from the communities with a view to drafting a business plan,” she said. “This is aimed at facilitating stakeholder participation and focus throughout the process.

“Through these initiatives, we hope that learners and teachers will improve their road safety knowledge, behaviour and attitudes,” she added. “We also hope to see improved driving skills and significantly improved road behaviour by taxi drivers and scholar transport drivers.”

Van Wyk also said enhanced infrastructure around school routes will also contribute towards children’s safety and ultimately reduce accidents and injuries.