The research revealed that one-third of Australian drivers admit to speeding in school zones, even though reduced speed limits in these areas have been in place for over two decades. With children returning to school this month, Claims Manager Leah James emphasized the importance of exercising caution and reducing speed. She called on drivers to protect the lives of school-aged children, who may have limited road safety experience and can behave unpredictably, by ensuring that they can get to and from school safely every day.
The research also found that one in 20 drivers had a car accident or a near miss near a school zone. According to data from 350,000 recent AAMI motor insurance claims, Fridays are the day with the highest number of crashes, and the afternoon between 1 pm and 4.30 pm during school pickup proved to be the most dangerous time.
Leah James pointed out that a child’s likelihood of surviving a collision decreases significantly in high-speed crashes compared to low-speed ones. Despite this, almost half of drivers who follow speed limits do so mainly to avoid fines and license penalties, indicating a greater concern for financial consequences than for putting others’ lives at risk. Only one in five drivers (20 percent) fear causing harm to others on the road.
The Australian Road Safety Foundation statistics showed that in 2023, 1,266 people were killed in car accidents, including 16 children under the age of 18. CEO and Founder of the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) Russell White expressed concern about the number of lives lost on Australian roads. As a measure to reduce speeding near school zones, the ARSF and AAMI are relaunching their Slow Down Songs initiative on Spotify. This initiative targets drivers near school zones and plays songs at their regular speed but significantly slows them down when the driver is within 5 kilometers (3.11 miles) of a school as a reminder to reduce speed and exercise extra caution.