With school returning for another year, motorists are urged to slow down to 40km/h in school zones.
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Infrastructure and Transport Minister Michael Ferguson joined Road Safety Advisory Council chair Scott Tilyard and St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School acting principal Casimir Douglas on Monday to launch the speed reduction road safety campaign 'Love 40' as children start heading back to the classroom.
Mr Ferguson said the return to school would see a lot more traffic, not just on the roads, but also on footpaths.
"It's an important message as many students are heading back to school this week and next week, with tens of thousands of children entering into and out of school gates and into the streets and onto crossings," he said.
"We want to remind motorists that they have to slow down around school zones. The speed limit in school zones during school hours is 40km/h, but also people have to drive to the conditions.
"If there is poor visibility, rain or if it's a really busy day we encourage motorists to slow down even further."
Mr Ferguson said that ensuring the safety of school children and families is the number one priority.
"Our children are so precious and we have a shared commitment in Tasmania to the protection of children and careless or distracted driving will not be tolerated," he said.
"We are saying a simple message, cut your speed and cut the risk.
"It's not hard and it is to ensure that we have a safe community."
Mr Tilyard said spreading the message was important for the community to be aware of increased foot activity in school areas.
"Maybe some people have gotten out of the habit of slowing down for certain areas with schools on break, but we want to remind people that when the kids come back to the school area so do these changed road conditions," he said.
Mr Douglas said the school was very busy of a morning and afternoon.
"School morning drop off time... we have families that are dropping off on all sides of the school," he said.
"We have a lot of school students who use the crossing areas and Robin, our traffic control officer, has done a wonderful job for 21 years in keeping the families safe.
"With a growing community, it's so important that we remind people to drive safely and also remind our children and parents to look both ways, be alert and make sure to use the crossings provided."
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