ROBERT Sands, Baha Mar senior vice-president of government and community relations and Minister of Education Glenys Hanna Martin. Photos: Moise Amisial
By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
THE aunt of Calvin Morley, Jr, a 13-year-old killed while trying to cross the street on his way home from school in 2012, said his memory will live on through a safe school zone initiative launched yesterday in his honour.
In partnership with the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Works and Family Affairs, the Baha Mar Foundation launched the Calvin J Morley Safe School Zone initiative.
Charmaine Morley said her family is still hurting since her nephew died in 2012.
“It’s just a sad situation, but of the sad situation comes something good to protect others, especially students around The Bahamas,” she said.
Baha Mar vice president Robert Sands said the resort contributed $200,000 to the road safety project to enhance pedestrian crossing at primary schools in New Providence and some Family Islands.
“When we look at the positioning of most of our schools and schools’ zones, many residential communities have to cross over highly trafficked areas to get to those locations,” he said. “And we felt it very important to be able to provide safe pedestrian crossings that will guarantee the safety of multiple students within the environment of The Bahamas.”
Mr Sands noted that some students as young as six walk to and from school.
In addition to improving pedestrian crossings, the project aims to increase visibility, integrate solar technology, and promote a culture of respect among road users.
Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting said on Family Islands, some students “walk miles to go to school, and the streets, especially in the islands, can be very dangerous for our children and especially for primary school students.”
Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin recalled the shocking death of Calvin, who was a constituent in Englerston.
“We have looked at schools throughout New Providence, we have determined where signage needs to go and painting of crossings to revitalize those crossings so that in every school in New Providence, these areas are delineated,” she said.
Transport Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis said the project would involve installing electronic pedestrian crosses featuring rapid flashing beacon systems with push button activation.
The project’s first phase will involve the Martin Town Primary School in Grand Bahama and several New Providence schools, including Yellow Elder Primary School, Thelma Gibson Primary School, Columbus Primary School, EP Roberts Primary School, Stephen Dillet Primary School, Uriah McPhee Primary School and Woodcock Primary School.
Mrs Coleby-Davis said officials focused on heavy traffic areas and relied on the National Road Safety Council’s findings to select schools for the first phase.
Work is expected to start at the beginning of February.
Comments
bahamianson 3 months, 1 week ago
What is a safe pedestrian crossing. Is that a play on words? A pedestrian crossing is a safe zone already. A Moron should know that once you enter a school zone, you should slow down or be ticketed by police. Children are not taught safety from their sperm and egg donors slo we need to slow down in the school zone. Our laws have no teeth. Ley any Bahamian not slow down in a school zone in the united states and see what happens. They know , just as always. Being stupid.we don't need a safety zone because we have one , just STUPID BAHAMIANS.
ThisIsOurs 3 months, 1 week ago
Have you seen children crossing the street at 3PM? It's like an animal herd crossing sometimes. And they take pride in that, all with bright smiles and or I own this road attitudes.
Telling drivers to slow down is one sided. I remember personally being a long line of traffic on BlueHill and Soldier Road going about 5 miles per hour because it was bumper to bumper. This school boy about 13, just randomly darted across the road, if he had walked I would have had more time to react, but he ran. I had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting him and I was barely moving. Then there were the boys who decided to wait till I was 8 feet from them to dart across the Marathon Road dual lane. You find yourself frequently doing this, slamming brakes to avoid irresponsible pedestrians, children and adults. Once again a solution that doesnt fully identify the problem. My solution is to avoid 3PM traffic as much as humanly possible. I think some of these children look at this as a game, literally, let's see how many cars I could beat.
The message needs to be drilled into students that the last thing a driver wants to do is hit anybody. But drivers dont see everything, even if they're aware. They may not be able to stop, even if they try. Accidents dont always end in death or recovery, you could be brain damaged or paralyzed and you can never win a fight with a 1000 pounds of steel. Be smart.
Added to that could "helpful" drivers for Gods sake discontinue the practice of stopping and encouraging children to cross at random locations or when the light is green? You're putting everyone in danger
Sickened 3 months, 1 week ago
We need to limit the amount of 'sperm donor' and 'need the income' kids. Is there something big pharma can put in the next COVID "vaccine" that can help a country like ours?
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