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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-03-01 Daily Xml
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Road Safety Petition

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:25): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Road Safety a question about a road safety petition.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On Wednesday 15 February, the member for Morialta, John Gardner, in the other place, brought a petition to the attention of parliament on behalf of the Highbury Primary School community calling for improved road safety measures and school crossings around the Highbury Primary School. The petition, signed by 571 residents, is calling for safer crossings on Lower North East Road and Valley Road, which are key roads near the school, as well as improved signage, road markings and better crossings immediately surrounding the school and preschool. The lead petitioner, governing council member and concerned parent, Abraham Shuken, stated:

…several local roads are simply unsafe for hundreds of kids to cross, in particular the four-lane, major road—Lower North East Road.

My questions to the minister are:

1. What plans will the minister put in place to ensure that children and community members residing near Highbury Primary School are safe when crossing Lower North East Road and Valley Road?

2. With the petition gaining the support of 571 signatures, being a large representation of the school community, when will the minister address the concerns of those residents?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:27): This state government remains utterly committed to road safety. I think it is well known that this government has a strong track record when it comes to road safety, with last year recording record results when it comes to fatalities on South Australian roads. We also know, through a number of measures that this state government has put in place, for example, the graduated licencing scheme, we have seen a reduction in road deaths in the cohort of people, that is, young drivers. This speaks to our commitment and our degree of success that we have had in the area, and our desire to make sure that we are constantly investing in the area of road safety.

However, there is, without doubt, room for improvement. One death on our roads is one too many and although each and every road death is tragic, ones that occur amongst a younger demographic or younger people are particularly heartbreaking within the community. The honourable member has asked a question in regard to traffic crossings and the like. These are important pieces of infrastructure. Keeping our kids safe as they travel in and around school zones is obviously something that is important to all parents.

I am not in a position to be able to comment authoritatively just at the moment regarding the particular intersection or crossing that the Hon. Ms Lee has raised; however, I am more than happy to seek the appropriate information from my department and get it back to her. I also offer to the member for Morialta, if he wishes to meet with me or my department directly regarding this particular issue, particularly if there is a petition with over 500 constituents putting their name to it.

I am more than happy to facilitate higher level discussions with the department so that if there are genuine concerns to be raised and there is a genuine priority that needs to be met that it can be contemplated in the context of all other areas where the government is expending large and significant sums of money to ensure that we do have safe traffic crossings in and around our schools.

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