Saint Patrick's Pupils pass verdict on motorists who feel need to speed outside their school

AFFORDING an extra degree of verisimilitude to the consequences of absent minded speeding were an astute panel of primary seven pupils from Saint Patrick's Primary School Crossmaglen.

The panel, which was chaired by primary seven pupils Charlie, Odhran, Oisin and Noah, took part in a Kids Court to deliver a swift administration of justice to those drivers who exceed the speed limit outside their place of learning.

The outworking of initiatives implemented on the part of the PSNI to tackle the increase in speeding detections the Kids Court affords those motorists detected speeding with a choice of either accept a fixed penalty notice or sit in the Kids court wherein a panel of pupils from the respective school the detection took place will put top them a series of questions about their driving.

These questions include if the speeding motorist was aware of the speed restrictions outside the school, if they realised that they were going to fast and what the ultimate outcome could have been if they collided with a school pupil crossing the road. Inspector Graeme Reynolds of the Slieve Gullion Neighbourhood policing team explains the raison detre for the Kids court is to try and change the behaviours to avoid road traffic collisions.

"The Kids court is an initiative that is designed to change drivers behaviour." expIained inspector Reynolds"

Drivers who are detected speeding past the school are given the opportunity to come in and see the children and the children will ask the some questions about their speed."

The purpose of this is to act as a deterrent and to change driver attitudes particularly when driving past the school. It can be a challenging enough experience for the driver. There is the option of a fine but coming in and meeting the children face to face, being asked some challenging questions and it makes the message of speeding past a school makes the message of deterrence land more effectively

"There was one occasion where one driver in particular was in tears when they were leaving. It is not that the kids were very harsh on him , but he realised that breaching the speed limit can have such serious consequences.

"You see the young people and they tell you about the impact your behaviour can have on them, it is a really strong message.

"Although the Kids court may have only been in session for a number of minutes, this was more than enough time for the officers stationed outside Saint Patrick's to make their first detection of speeding.

This involved a motorist who was assessed as having driven at 43 miles per hour, 13 miles in excess of the speed restriction outside the school. As a result he opted to sit in the Kids Court as a means of remediating his less than exemplary stabndard of driving.

Whilst sitting in the court the panel first affably granted this male motorist whilst explaining how they had been learning about road safety in Saint Patrick's"Thank you for agreeing to come and talk to us today. We have been learning about road safety and how we can all keep safe on the roads. We have also been learning about what can happen when drivers go to fast."

"Do you know what the speed limit is outside out school?"

The motorist responded "yes". The panel then asked

"Did you realise you were going to fast?" to which the motorist responded:"No I thought I was in a hurry, this is no excuse though, just what I thought."The court then explained to the motorist what the ultimate outcome of his thinking he was in a hurry could have been for one of the pupils at the school

"Did you know that this is a road with a school and that children could be crossing outside.

You could have killed one of us?

"The motorist made a commitment to remedy his speeding going forward saying"

I think I will perhaps keep driving below the speed limit from now on"

Once court was out of session one of the panel members from Saint Patrick's had a very astute observation regarding the demeanour of the detected speedster upon being asked the final question"

"I thought he was going to start crying when I said you think you could have killed one of us?"