Pupils take road safety campaign to council

Pupils have asked councillors for a zebra crossing outside their school to increase road safety.

A group of sixth form students at Forge Valley School in Sheffield surveyed their peers and found 86% were concerned there was no safe crossing outside the school.

Student Chuck said he had bad experiences of road safety outside the school.

He told councillors: "Many of us have had dangerous experiences of walking or travelling to school."

The teenagers presented their survey of 890 students to a meeting of Sheffield City Council north local area committee and called for a zebra crossing, pavement barriers, or for a school crossing patrol.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the students' survey found 68% walked to school - the most popular method of transport.

Student Anne told the meeting: "I joined this group because I wanted to make a positive change for our school and the wider community.

"Lots of us have experienced maybe not the best safety as we're walking to school or cycling to school."

Another student, Grace, said: "We believe that students should just be able to walk home safely from school and not be scared of being hit by any cars or put in any danger."

Councillor Will Sapwell, who represents Stannington ward, which the school is based in, offered to help the students create a petition to present to the council.

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