A new trend, how to ensure children’s safety before school? Close the street to cars

The last blue passenger car drove down the street legally. But now the hand on the clock shows 7:30. This means that no motor vehicle is allowed to pass through for the next half hour.

I am in front of the school in Dobříš, Central Bohemia. Here, the city management decided to vigorously address the safety of children in front of the school. It therefore introduced a time-limited entry ban. First for the exam. But the change has proven itself, so the restriction is now in effect permanently.

To find out how the locals evaluate the change, I walk a short distance with Filip Reichenauer, who is taking his two children to school. First she heads around the street to the kindergarten, then returns with her second daughter to the elementary school around the corner.

“It’s nice because the street is suddenly calm in the morning,” Reichenauer praises the change.

We cross the road together, which until the prohibition sign during the morning is more of a pedestrian zone. And most of the children here go to school alone. And that includes the youngest from first grade.

“When they are older, I will not be afraid to send them to school alone,” he adds.

We address the question of how to ensure the safety of children on the streets in front of school within the project List of News How life is in the Czech Republic. Its April topic is transport.

A survey by the Ipsos agency for Seznam Zprávy shows that in smaller cities, such as Dobříš, people most often travel by car, in contrast to the largest ones. This was answered by 64 percent of respondents from municipalities with between five and 20 thousand inhabitants. The transport of children to school is also related to this, which parents, for example, bring to the front of the school on their way to work instead of using public transport.

“Security in front of the schools was really a problem. We also made a time-lapse documentary about it. It was basically just waiting to see if something happened. Fortunately, there was no accident,” says the deputy mayor of Dobříš, Jindřiška Romba (STAN).

However, the city did not take this as proof that the situation is in order. On the contrary, in cooperation with parents, schools and local residents, a time-limited entry ban began to be resolved. Dobriš tried the thing for a short time last spring during the Walking to School project.

According to the town hall questionnaire, 48 percent of people rated it positively. The majority of the respondents were either in favor of introducing some form of restriction or had no strong opinion on it.

How safety for children has changed since the introduction of the curfew:

“Of course, we also received negative responses, but we tried to solve them through communication and compromises. And we managed to come to an agreement,” Romba describes.

The city has negotiated a change of route with suppliers for local shops. They agreed with the locals who live here that they can leave the place even at this time. It is true that there are not that many parking spaces in the prohibited area. And parents who bring their children to school have several places where they can safely drop them off, including the turnstile at the end of Za Poštou street.

There are more and more places in the Czech Republic introducing similar school streets. One of the first localities with a morning entry ban in front of the school was another Central Bohemian village of Říčany. Prague districts were also added. For example, Horní Počernice or Prague 6.

“It worked for us. Today, no one opposes it. On the contrary, we are wondering if this change could be implemented in front of other schools as well,” explains Ondřej Matěj Hrubeš (ODS), councilor for transport in the Prague 6 district. For now, bans apply in front of two local schools.

While in the Czech Republic, school streets are the first attempts, in Western Europe it is a completely common measure that helps the safe movement of children in front of schools.

“In some of the world’s capitals, the concept of school streets is highly emphasized, for example in London or Paris,” confirms Blanka Klimešová from the organization Walking the City.

“But also in the Czech Republic, more and more schools and municipalities perceive the traffic situation in front of schools as problematic and they want to do something about it,” he adds.

After all, it is also based on last year’s research by the organization Walking the City. Every fourth first-grader assesses their journey to school as dangerous, and according to 43 percent of children, there is unpleasant traffic in the morning before school.

But back to Dobříš for a while. Most of the parents I met before school in the morning applaud the change. For example, Jan mentions that now he and his wife have to think about the route to work. Today, he parked the car a short distance in front of the prohibition sign and waves to his daughter, who is already completing part of the journey alone.

“It’s pros and cons. When the ban didn’t apply, there was terrible traffic here. But people who rush to work now have a more difficult time,” says Jan.

The curfew, although limited, is not just for parents. Just before 8:30 a local post office worker crosses the street and parks a short distance from the school. She tells me she started driving to work earlier so she wouldn’t break the new traffic rules. And of course the entry ban also affects local residents.

“However, none of the various fears were confirmed. If there was a post or a barrier in the street, then some problem could arise in an acute situation, but not like this. On the contrary, I perceive it positively, because I have children myself and there is no longer a line of cars rolling here in the morning,” says Karel Černý, who looks down on the street from his balcony. Since December, he has also been a fresh representative of the village under the Mayors.

When I leave Dobříšská Street in front of the school, it’s already past curfew, so a few cars pass by here and there.

The new brand did not cause any traffic disasters. On the contrary, children have a somewhat safer journey to school.

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Photo: List of News

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