The principal of a Canberra school will petition ‘all levels of government’ to install pedestrian safety measures on Canberra Avenue. It comes for a fortnight after two boys from the school were critically injured when they were struck by an allegedly stolen car putting a spotlight on student safety.
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00:00It was a moment that shocked St Edmunds College and the wider Canberra community.
00:07It's extraordinary they're both alive.
00:09Aaron's out of hospital, one of the boys is out of hospital making a great recovery.
00:13Aidan's got a bit to go, but he'll get there as well.
00:16The near tragedy breathed new life into a campaign to slow down traffic around the school.
00:22Boys have got less than eight seconds to cross two lanes of traffic at 130 metres.
00:28So I sort of hold my breath and watch them all across the road.
00:32Canberra Avenue is a major route through the ACT.
00:35And the St Edmunds Principal says common sense changes are needed.
00:39Including a 40km per hour zone at certain times of the day.
00:43We understand people need to get to work and the traffic needs to flow.
00:46But we just want them to slow down at critical times.
00:49And we'll be making petitions to government at all levels early in a new term.
00:54Neighbouring school St Clair's is also pushing for safety improvement.
00:58A year ago, it met with ACT bureaucrats to ask for improvements, but nothing was forthcoming.
01:04The government says a 40km zone on Canberra Avenue is unlikely at this stage.
01:09But some things are looking more likely than others.
01:12And so a signalised pedestrian crossing is in that more likely basket.
01:17Worries about kids' safety go beyond Canberra Avenue.
01:20Leaders of schools across the ACT are concerned about driver behaviour, regardless of the speed limit.
01:26Anything from speeding to double parking to blocking access or doing U-turns, you know, in the middle of a really busy street.
01:38Possible dangers the St Edmunds community is now acutely aware of.
01:42It's been two weeks since the incident this morning, so a lot has gone on in that time, of course.
01:47But holidays, as of this afternoon, we'll regroup and renew ourselves.
01:53Taking small steps towards improving safety for students.
01:57We'll be seeing a lot of children in the street.
01:58When we're dealing with staff.
01:59We'll see you later.
02:00We'll see you later in the next session.