Students of the Purkynovo gymnazium secondary school in the small Czech town of Straznice wanted to prevent accidents on the road next to their school. After completing their project they are protected against inconsiderate drivers.
The ideas
We were thinking about the possibility of starting a discussion about prevention of road accidents on the road next to our school. The main problem is that this main road has two crossings for students who commute to our school. The crossings are signed properly but the drivers are so inconsiderate they do not respect the right of crossing for pedestrians (including our students). The goal of the project was to find an effective solution and discuss it with the Mayor of our town.
The initiatives
In October 2013 we created the project team targeted to solve the main problems with road safety close to our school.
The project team consisted of eight people:
• Renata Falesnikova, class kvinta (project leader)
• Katerina Zajickova, class 3.A
• Tamara Kubalkova, class oktava
• Jolana Tesarova ,class oktava
• Katerina Semradova, class oktava
• Eva Kozinova, class 4.A
• Miroslava Mikeskova, class 4.A
• Marie Josefikova, class 4.A.
Then we discussed the main tasks and the ways we could promote them. We also prepared a schedule.
In December 2013 we started to discuss the prevention of road accidents on the main road next to our school. As a result of the discussion, we wanted to try to find some effective solution and send it to our Mayor. Unfortunately the Mayor did not want to discuss things connected to road safety around our school. She claimed she could not make any changes because the main responsibility was with the Czech Republic Police.
Later we asked the local chief of the Czech Republic Police. He answered that any changes he made needed to be according to the plan of the district chief of the Czech Republic Police. We asked him… it was similar, like a fairytale.
Our students were frustrated that they were not able to do anything to protect themselves on the way to school and coming home from school. Finally, in April 2014, the chief of the local police station (which is directed by the Mayor!) decided on his own responsibility that he would send two policemen to protect pedestrians at the times that most students go to and leave school. As a result we are better protected against inconsiderate drivers, although only twice a day: at 07:30 and 13:45. But this result is better than excuses of our mayor.
