Heather du Plessis-Allan: All schools in this country should have lower speed limits

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

I think the hardest news story to read today is of the kindergarten teacher in Victoria who died yesterday afternoon saving children from a truck that smashed into the kindy.

The truck driver lost control, the truck ploughed into the kindy, the teacher pushed the kids out of the way, but died herself.

The speed limit outside that kindergarten was supposed to be dropped from 50 to 40 kph – but hadn’t been.

A similar thing happened a few weeks ago in Melbourne.

An SUV crashed into a primary school, killing an 11-year-old boy and hurting 4 other children.

I don't love speed reductions.

All too often they’re done in stupid places like open roads. But when it comes to places where kids are, I've completely 180’d on this.

I read the book ‘The Anxious Generation’ a few weeks ago. The book tracks why kids are having mental crises en masse lately.

One of the reasons, particularly for boys, is that since the 1970s parents have increasingly stopped their kids from just playing around the neighbourhood on their bikes, or running around with other kids - because parents are scared of fast traffic.

And with good reason... cars go fast in our suburbs.

I live on a road that’s 30kph. No one does 30kph – I don't do 30kph.

The good news is that because of recent rule changes here, Auckland schools should have lower speed limits during school hours by the end of 2027. But, I wouldn’t mind if that was pretty much everywhere where kids are.

I get that would drive people bonkers, having to slow down all the time around houses and parks and schools...

It would require us sacrificing our time.

But, for the benefit of going as fast as we do around kids... we are sacrificing quite a lot.

Their best childhoods.

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