Drivers urged to stop for SCPs

12.00 | 21 September 2015 | | 3 comments

Pembrokeshire County Council is to run a campaign urging drivers to stop for school crossing patrols (SCPs) following increasing concerns that some motorists are not doing so.

Since November 2014, when a SCP in Fishguard was struck by a car, council officers have been monitoring near misses and have logged numerous incidents of vehicles failing to stop for the patrols, with a number of these incidents reported to the police.

Now the council’s road safety team is running a Stop Means Stop campaign for the month of October.

Councillor Rob Lewis, cabinet member for transportation, said: “We have SCPs for a reason. They are there to ensure the safety of our children when they go to and from school. I cannot understand how some drivers are prepared to flout the law and ignore them.

“They face not just fines and a points on their license but possibly the injury of someone, or even worse, on their conscience.”

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, drivers are legally obliged to obey the school crossing patrol sign.

The law states that as soon as a patrol raises their sign, even if they have not stepped into the road, drivers must be prepared to stop and wait until the SCP and any accompanying children and/or adults have cleared the road.

Anyone found guilty of not stopping faces prosecution and could receive a fine of up to £1,000 and three penalty points on their license.


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    From my experience the drivers that are reported for driving through are not prosecuted despite numerious witnesses, they are apparently sent a letter telling them they were observed failing to stop.


    Andrew, Chelmsford Essex
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    Cameras are available and are used by SCPs on sites where there are particular problems and by road workers operating stop-go boards too. In both cases they collect evidence of an offence being committed – this campaign is designed to raise drivers awareness of the issues facing SCPs when they cross children over busy roads and remind drivers and riders of their responsibilities towards the patrols – the aim is to reduce the incidences of “drive-through” incidents, to everyone’s benefit.


    Honor Byford, Chair, RoadSafetyGB
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    What ever happened to the SCPs’ STOP signs with the cameras in them, designed to detect such offences?


    Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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