Plymouth school children urge motorists: “Drive carefully and keep us safe!”

Children from St Andrew’s School in Plymouth recently teamed up with local officers from Devon & Cornwall Police to raise awareness about driving and parking safely near schools.

The new initiative included a competition to design road-safety posters, to be handed out to dangerous drivers, with five winning designs selected and printed.

Pupils then joined local officers on a short foot-patrol around the school at finish time, speaking directly to motorists who were driving or parking dangerously, and giving them the posters to take home.

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Katie Mole, PCSO who created the scheme, said:

“It’s really important to build relationships with local schools and students and to teach children about road safety from a young age.

“Hopefully through engaging with the children and with officers and seeing the very effective posters, local drivers will think twice about driving and parking dangerously, not just near schools, but anywhere to help keep people safe.”

St Andrew’s headteacher Sarah Field added:

“The children have really enjoyed this project and it’s been great to make links with the police. The younger children contributed by designing road-safety posters and the older ones were able to go out on patrol with officers to promote safety messaging.

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity for the children to take an active role in supporting the police with their work in the community, keeping us all safe too. 

“We’ve also had road-safety assemblies delivered by officers, which were engaging and relevant and of benefit to the whole school.”

Driving safely is a key focus for the Devon & Cornwall Police. 

According to their guidance, most offences fall into two categories.

1. “dangerous driving” - behaviour that falls far below the minimum standard and could endanger others
2. “careless or inconsiderate driving” - failing to drive with reasonable consideration for other road-users 

The force is also part of the Vision Zero South West Road Safety Partnership, previously reported by The Moorlander, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on roads across Devon and Cornwall. 

The school and its pupils encourage all motorists, especially those picking up or dropping off children, to slow down, park thoughtfully and consider others when driving near schools.