School zones are back in force

Published

Motorists are being urged to slow down to save lives, as school zones return to operation across the state from Monday 21 July.

School zones will be active from 8am to 9:30am and 2:30pm to 4pm on school days.

The government’s plea follows the release of new data that reveals more than 183,000 school zone speeding offences were recorded in NSW in the last financial year.

Alarmingly, nearly 70 per cent (125,000+) occurred during active school zone hours – that's more than 340 drivers every day choosing to speed past schools and young children.

Since 2019, 106 pedestrians aged 5 to 16 years have been hit by vehicles in active school zones. Two children have been killed and 38 seriously injured.

One camera at Woodville Road in Chester Hill recorded more than 8,600 fines alone. One reckless driver was even caught doing 110km/h at this location during school zone hours.

The top five school zone speeding hotspots for 2024–25 were all in Sydney:

  • Woodville Road, Chester Hill (Southbound) – 8,615 fines
  • Victoria Road, Ryde (Eastbound) – 7,313 fines
  • Princes Highway, Kogarah (Southbound) – 5,866 fines
  • Hume Highway, Yagoona (Westbound) – 5,691 fines
  • Cleveland Street, Moore Park (Westbound) – 5,307 fines.

Regional NSW was not immune to the illegal and dangerous behaviour. The worst five locations:

  • Pacific Highway, Gateshead (Southbound) – 3,288 fines
  • Pacific Highway, Ourimbah (Northbound) – 2,970 fines
  • Princes Highway, Wollongong (Northbound) – 1,636 fines
  • Princes Highway, Wollongong (Southbound) – 1,299 fines
  • Pacific Highway, Ourimbah (Southbound) – 929 fines.

Motorists are reminded to prioritise safety outside schools. Measures include:

  • more than 6,800 school zone flashing lights now installed across NSW, including a new state-of-the-art signage trial near Newcastle
  • around 1,500 school crossing supervisors supporting 980+ schools
  • ongoing commitment to ensure every school zone has at least one set of flashing lights.

Read the full release here: School zones are back in force, so drive like kids’ lives depend on it! 

 

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