FRIGHTENED parents have made a direct plea to drivers to stop “blatantly ignoring” a West End school’s car free zone leading to near misses with pupils.
Families at Broomhill Primary have slammed those who are driving dangerously along Elmwood Lane and Avenue, despite Glasgow City Council’s car free zone being in place for more than two years.
Last month, another near-miss occurred when a driver was spotted entering the area at speed before carrying out a three-point turn manoeuvre and “aggressively” driving away almost knocking over a child on their bike.
Glasgow Times photographers have also captured drivers illegally using the lane.
One parent who witnessed the incident, and asked not to be named, claimed the situation was “getting worse, not better”.
READ MORE: Glasgow parents slam car free zone at West End school
As previously reported, Broomhill was one of the first schools to enter into the council’s then-pilot scheme which banned vehicles from driving around certain roads around schools at the beginning and end of the learning day.
In the West End school’s case, this forbids drivers from using the two surrounding roads between 8.30am to 9.15am, and 2.30pm to 3.15pm between Monday and Friday.
Despite numerous calls for support, parents say the school is still struggling with the sheer volume of drivers who continue to flout the rules – posing a risk to children as they travel to and from school.
Michael Whittaker, a parent council member, previously said: “The big issue is the enforcement. It’s a great initiative and I completely support it and it’s absolutely fantastic that they’ve done this but the big issue is the implementation.
“There’s some signs but there’s nothing for the people who decide the rules don’t apply to them.
“From what I understand, the worst offenders are parents.”
The local authority has taken action in a bid to tackle the situation, while police are also making routine visits to the site.
READ MORE: Backlog of repairs to Glasgow’s roads would cost almost £100million to complete
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “It’s deeply disappointing that a minority of drivers continue to break the law outside Broomhill Primary School.
“We cannot be any clearer that driving in a school streets zone without authority is deplorable, dangerous and against the law.
“Driving in a school streets zone is a road traffic offence that can only be enforced by the police and officers have been working in support of the zone.”
They added: “Our own road safety staff have also been stationed outside the school to remind drivers of the rules and we are actively pursuing the use of number plate recognition cameras, which will require a change to the law.
“We liaise regularly with the police on the school streets zones and we always look for new ways to ensure parents and other drivers observe a scheme intended to protect young school children.
“New, enhanced signage will be installed outside the school without delay.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received report of vehicles in the car free zone near Broomhill Primary School in Glasgow around 9.30am on Monday, November 29.
"Suitable advice was given and officers are giving extra attention to the area.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel