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Local bus drivers are calling on residents to slow down around school buses.
New variable speed limits of 30km/h around most urban and rural schools, and 60km/h outside schools on state highways and other higher-speed roads, were introduced at the start of the month.
While the new speed limits are intended to improve safety around schools, bus drivers say motorists also need to remember the separate legal requirement to travel no faster than 20km/h when passing a stationary school bus that has stopped to pick up or drop off children.
“The 20km/h speed limit is there for a reason. A lot of people don’t slow down around school buses, but you are legally required to pass the bus at 20km/h when it is safe to do so. I see a lot of people trying to speed past the bus while children are getting off or are distracted because they are on their phones. It is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt,” a spokesperson on behalf of local school bus drivers says.
“What we need is cooperation. These are your kids, but it is up to all of us to keep them safe.”
A 2024 NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi report, based on an analysis of school bus crashes between 2010 and 2021, found that 75 per cent of people who were killed or seriously injured during school bus pick-up and drop-off were pedestrians crossing the road to or from the bus.
The same report found that 76 per cent of injury crashes occurred when the striking vehicle was travelling faster than the legal 20km/h passing speed.
The 20km/h limit applies regardless of the posted speed limit whenever a school bus has stopped to collect or set down children.
Drivers who fail to slow to the legal 20km/h limit when passing a stationary school bus can face enforcement action, with the rule designed to protect children who may be crossing the road or entering and leaving the bus.
