I think that the problem of non-compliance with traffic rules when parents take their children to school at the beginning of classes is significant for discussion. Parents leave their cars or stop in the wrong places so that the child does not have to go far. I face its consequences every day, as the road to the school runs through the surrounding areas.
That is a problem for many people, for example, for students who get to school on foot or bicycles. Even with preventive measures, there are still those students who violate the rules of behavior on the road and may get into an accident (Wang et al., 2018). Also, parents, because of their actions, create traffic jams on the streets and interfere with pedestrians and other drivers and threaten their safety. Moreover, due to parents’ rash actions and the lack of any solution to this issue by the authorities, road accidents and congestion can occur, which then turn into traffic jams.
This point has been discussed for a long time in the academic environment. The road transport services responsible for regulating traffic on the roads have enough power to solve it. Briz-Redón et al. (2019) report that “an increase in accident counts arose with the close presence of Preschools and Primary schools” (p. 5). It seems that this issue is not being addressed due to a lack of resources. The police are much more likely to deal with more critical cases involving violators of public order than to control drivers’ behavior on the roads near schools.
I believe that a possible solution could be road cameras and police on duty near the school and in nearby areas during peak hours – that is, when drivers bring and pick up children from schools. The cameras can also track how and where the parents will stop and set the order regarding traffic correctness. The school and the state can bear these transformations’ costs since they are responsible for students’ life and safety.
References
Wang, H., Tan, D., Schwebel, D. C., Shi, L., & Miao, L. (2018). Effect of age on children’s pedestrian behaviour: Results from an observational study. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 58, 556–565. Web.
Briz-Redón, Á., Martínez-Ruiz, F., & Montes, F. (2019). Estimating the occurrence of traffic accidents near school locations: A case study from Valencia (Spain) including several approaches. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 132, 1–10. Web.