CONCERNED parents say children’s lives are at risk in the absence of a pedestrian crossing on a busy road outside a Watson childcare centre.

For four years parents have been calling on the ACT government to install a zebra crossing on Gwynne Street, between the Nipperville Early Learning Centre and the Watson shops.

But the parents’ campaign has been unsuccessful, with the ACT government confirming there was no need for a crossing following a recent safety audit conducted at the location.

Long-time advocate for the crossing Rob May – whose children previously attended Nipperville Early Learning Centre – believes that the absence of a safe crossing is an accident waiting to happen.

“We need a crossing here,” said May. “Personally I have witnessed multiple near misses at this location over many years.

“It’s a small miracle that no-one has been squashed.”

Spearheading the campaign for a crossing, May said Gwynne Street is difficult to cross during peak hours, making it dangerous for parents and children.

“Drivers come off A’Beckett Street and floor it down Gwynne Street blissfully unaware there is a childcare centre on that road,” he said.

“It’s dangerous. The concern is that small children spill out on to the road every so often, while cars seem to use Gwynne Street as a drag strip.”

Earlier petitions to install a crossing lodged with the ACT Assembly have failed to change the government’s position, said May.

He believes the reasons cited by the government just don’t stack up.

“We were told by ACT Roads that the area is safe because no one has been killed here yet,” said May.

“It’s akin to a car without airbags, saying it hasn’t had an accident yet so it’s a safe car. 

“We all know airbags save lives, so why wouldn’t you put in a safety measure?”

May said he was dumbfounded when told that one of the reasons the government was reluctant to place a crossing at the site was the liability it would incur should someone be injured.

“They said if they put a zebra crossing here and someone gets hit they become liable,” he said.

“So they are more liable if they do something than don’t. I was gobsmacked by the comment.” 

The threshold test used by the ACT government to identify the need for a zebra crossing is “a minimum of 60 pedestrians crossing the roadway with at least 600 vehicles passing the site during the same peak hour over two separate one-hour peak periods.”

The pedestrian safety assessment undertaken at the Gwynne Street site revealed that it did not reach that threshold, according to an ACT government spokesperson.

May takes issue with the conclusions the government has drawn from their study arguing that the requirements were unrealistic.

“The requirement for 600 cars in two hours to justify a much-needed zebra crossing is absurd for a suburban setting,” he said.

“We could argue that any such study was always destined to fail, if not intended to fail.”

Nipperville centre manager Cassandra Rijven has suggested a reduction to the speed limit in the vicinity of the centre from 50 km/h to 30 km/h as a partial solution to minimise the danger to parents and children.

“Most childcare centres would 100 per cent support a better speed limit around their service,” said Rijven.

That plea is likely to go unanswered with a government spokesperson  indicating that the average speed of vehicles travelling on Gwynne Street is 24km/h, according to the study.

Rijven points to the apparent double standard applied to schools as opposed to childcare centres when determining safety measures.

“There’s no road-safety standard for childcare centres,” she said.

“We are not thought of the same as schools and I think that’s what needs to change.”

She argues there’s a greater need to protect young infants from the dangers of speeding traffic than primary school students who should have some road sense.

“There are lots of children who deserve the same amount of safety as primary schools, high schools and even colleges who have pedestrian crossings and reduced speed limits, and those children are very able to cross the road.”

Rijven doesn’t want any parent to suffer the trauma of losing a child. She said the government needs to be a little more understanding of parents’ concerns about traffic safety issues at that location.

“We have huge support from parents who just want to see something done.”