Student Power

CONCERNED STUDENTS at St Marks School are taking road safety into their own hands with a new campaign aimed at slowing traffic outside the school.

The school council, led by Riona Whelan and Kathleen Batey, both 17, has drawn up a petition to persuade Hounslow Council to build a zebra crossing on Bath Road.

The road currently has no speed limit signs, and students crossing the road several times a day to reach playing fields, shops and bus stops are being put at risk.

Riona said it's an issue they care passionately about. "There are no road safety signs outside the school at all, it's something which has been a big concern and so far we haven't been able to do anything about it," she said.

More than 200 signatures have been collected so far with the help of the council's Traffic and Road Safety co-ordinator Elisabeth Knights, who visited the school last week to help establish a three-month travel plan.

The plan will then be presented to the council in a bid for funding, which would be put towards the cost of a zebra crossing or establishing a locked gates system for the school.

Kathleen said: "Mrs Knights explained to us what we need to do to make this work, and hopefully with the plan in place we'll be able to get the money we need."

St Michael and St Martin Church on Bath Road has also joined the fight. The students collected signatures from parish members on Sunday, and Father Tony Convery said he hopes the campaign is successful.

At least two serious accidents involving students from other schools have occured on the road in the last year, and teacher Ann Summers said the campaign is driven by the students' enthusiasm.

"The idea for the campaign came right from the kids themselves," she said. "It's not easy to get across the road, you get drivers overtaking without looking and I frequently have to close my eyes when kids run across."

Councillor Jagdish Sharma said he will support the campaign and believes more attention should be paid to speeding traffic outside schools.

"There is no doubt that Bath road is a very busy and dangerous place, and I think streets with schools on should be made into 20mph zones," he said.