A school patrol officer who has become increasingly alarmed at motorists speeding near her school has helped police convict a car driver.
Maureen Seaton explained that she had just helped a few children cross Coatham Road near Coatham Primary School, Redcar on the morning of Tuesday 12 March this year when she put her ‘lollipop’ stick out at a safe time and walked on to the road – only to see a car speed up towards her.
Fortunately, no children were yet on the road and Maureen managed to get out of the way on time. The incident was caught on camera and Maureen later gave a statement to the police and a motorist was convicted recently at Teesside Magistrates Court.
The man was convicted of a motoring offence and was fined more than £1,000 with six points added to his driving licence.
Maureen, a school crossing patrol officer on Coatham Road, Redcar for six years explained she contacted her managers and the police after becoming increasingly alarmed at the number of incidents of dangerous driving near schools. She appealed for motorists to take more care.
Maureen said:
“It’s happened a few times over the years but about two years ago I was really frightened in separate incident. That time it was a motorcyclist who really came fast towards us waving us out of the way. I had to just really quickly get the children off the road. After that, I started to record more incidents.
“I just want to say to motorists who are thinking of taking a chance and speeding by the children - please, please just take a minute for us. We don’t take long and we do care about not holding up traffic for too long. Of course, the vast majority of motorists are respectful and nice and give us waves. It’s the odd one – but that odd one can be very scary.”
Cabinet Member for Children, Cllr Bill Suthers, said:
“We will never tolerate any action which will endanger children or the amazing people like Maureen and all her colleagues who do their part to keep our children safe. We work closely with police and will provide whatever information we can to them to stop this kind of dangerous criminality. I’d like to thank police and everyone involved in bringing this case to court – and I’d especially like to thank Maureen and her colleagues who will be there every morning and afternoon this winter to make sure our children get to school safely.”
PC Joshua Hall-Young investigated the case. He said:
“Keeping children, parents and carers, school staff and crossing patrol officers safe is paramount and we will deal with anyone found to be driving in an inconsiderate or dangerous manner near our schools. An instruction to stop given by a crossing patrol officer is a legal order under the Road Traffic Act and the Highway code. Drivers can and will be prosecuted for failing to abide and ultimately putting people in danger. We will continue to work with partner agencies to ensure we make our roads safer for everyone and the promotion of road safety.”