(Facsimile version below)
At last – action on school crossings
After years of campaigning by parent groups the State Government has taken steps towards the provision of paid traffic supervisors.
An amount of $500,000 has been made available for payment of subsidies in respect of the first half of the 1975 school year (that is, the second half of the 1974/75 financial year). It may be expected that an amount of $1,000,000 will be available for the payment of subsidies in a full financial year. In a letter to V.F.S.S.M.C. from the Chief Secretary’s Office, Mr. R. King-Under Secretary comments: “You will note that councils will be responsible for the selection of crossings to be supervised. I suggest that your affiliates should approach the relevant councils calling attention to crossings which they consider should be supervised. I should stress that the funds available for the payment of subsidies will not enable all of the 1500 or so school crossings in Victoria to be supervised but the initial intention is to provide supervision for crossings situated on busier roads.”
Subsidies will be made available to local Municipal Councils on a 2 for 1 basis. Councils are asked to be selective in choosing crossings to be supervised having regard to the limitation of available resources. Guidelines have been prepared by the Road Safety and Traffic Authority to aid councils in exercising selection.
- Subsidies will be paid in respect of supervision for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Supervision and/or display of flags during other times of the day is entirely at the discretion of the municipality and the school concerned,
Initially the duties of a supervisor will comprise the marshalling of children at school crossings and arranging for their safe and orderly movement over the crossings. A pole bearing a Stop sign may be used as instructed.
A training course of two days duration will be provided by the Chief Commissioner of Police.
- Payment to each participating Council will be an amount of $1,250 per annum or pro rata for portion of a year per crossing for the permanent and regular supervision of school crossings by a traffic officer. Such payment will be adjusted in accordance with salary award.
- The Council is responsible for the provision of appropriate clothing.
It is not intended at this stage to legislate in respect of powers of school crossing supervisors but the matter is being further examined. Councils may empower supervisors to deal with parking offences.
- Supervisors can operate under normal insurance policies indemnifying Council and its officers against negligence. However ROSTA is investigating a policy of insurance to be taken out by the Government.
- Arrangements for replacement of supervisors are a matter for Councils. The Authority will be pleased to advise. • Councils are urged to furnish relevant information as quickly as possible. Enquiries may be directed to Mr. W. T. Davey, Telephone 81 0421 ext 21.
Guidelines for Selecting Priority of School Crossings for Appointment of Supervisors A minimum figure of 50 children per hour is recommended as the guideline for pedestrian usage. A minimum traffic volume of 250 vehicles per hour per carriageway is recommended for the Metropolitan Area and in cities or towns with a population exceeding 15,000. Elsewhere this may be reduced to 200 v.p.h. per carriageway. These guidelines should be met for one hour of an average school day. It is recommended that supervisors be appointed firstly to School Crossings used by primary school children (or a mixture of primary/secondary children) and should not be appointed to School Crossings used exclusively by secondary students unless the crossing comes under Class “A”. (See later). Regardless of other criteria, wherever a School Crossing is located for use by primary school children and the speed of 85% of the vehicles is greater than 80 km/hour a supervisor is desirable. Where it is judged that unusual conditions exist at any one location the decision as to the need for a supervisor is for Council to determine.
A system for classifying crossings to determine the relative priority is as follows.
Class “A”
For 1 hour of average school day, 50 children (P) 600 v.p.h, per carriageway (or 500 v.p.h. in country) (V)
For Primary Children P x V-30,000 (25,000 in country) Exclusively Secondary Students P x V=40,000 (34,000 in country).
Class “B”
School crossings which exceed the guidelines for appointing a supervisor but fall short of Class “A”.
Class “C”
School crossings which fail to meet the guidelines for appointing a supervisor but satisfy the guidelines for a School Crossing (i.e. 20 children and 50 vehicles in one hour).
Class “D”
School crossings which now-for any particular reason-do not fulfil the Authority’s guidelines for a School Crossing. Uniforms
The uniform will be a high visibility white linen or waterproof coat with optional red fluorescent belt and sash and a white hard peaked cap with a red fluorescent cap band on which is written “SUPERVISOR”
Equipment
Shoes should be comfortable and skid resistant. Each supervisor is to be issued with a whistle and a large double sided sign with STOP written in white letters on a fluorescent red background.
Federation recommends that affiliates immediately contact their local municipal councils if they consider that their school crossing should have a paid supervisor.
Footnote After a news item where the Premier acted in the capacity of supervisor at a school crossing as a means of publicising the new initiative, the eight year old daughter of a Federation committee member was most disappointed to learn that Mr. Hamer would not be a permanent “lollipop man” on her school crossing.
