Leap pupils beg drivers to slow down

A GROUP of primary pupils have reminded politicians that they are the ‘voters of the future’ and want something done about their dangerous route to and from their school.

Students of 4th, 5th and 6th class in Leap NS, which is alongside the busy N71 national primary route, say they ‘urgently’ need something done about the traffic speeding past their school.

In a letter to the editor in this week’s Southern Star, the children say that while the speed limit is 50kmph, many drivers going past ‘behave as if they were on a race track’ and they remind them the area also has a church, graveyard, playschool, shop and playground, all within metres of the school gate.

‘One of our playgrounds is next to the N71 and from time to time when the ball is kicked, it goes onto the road. The teacher or SNA is dicing with death when retrieving it,’ say the students. 

They also say that the walk to school means they are ‘risking life and limb’, and not one of the school’s pupils would consider cycling because it is just too dangerous.

‘A number of years ago, a child lost his life on this road, and we would rather not have history repeat itself,’ their letter states.

‘The teachers, parents, and board of management have tried to do something about this problem for a number of years, but their calls have all been ignored. And so … it is now time for the pupils to speak out! Our school won’t settle until the roads are safe for us and our friends in the village and the local community,’ states the letter. 

The students have helpfully made suggestions on how to make their route to school a little safer. 

They would like to see regular garda checkpoints to monitor the speed of drivers; the zebra crossing made more visible, and they would also like to see ‘smiley face’ speed detectors installed, similar to the ones in Coppeen village.

‘We are the voters of the future and we demand that something be done to solve the problem sooner rather than later,’ they add.

Meanwhile, a collision on the R585 between Crookstown and Béal na Bláth last Friday partially blocked both lanes of the route known locally as the ‘Bantry Line’. 

The incident drew a large response when posted by The Southern Star on its Facebook page. 

Many locals said the huge amount of traffic on that road – which is used as the main route to Cork city from Beara, Bantry, and Dunmanway – means it should be upgraded to a national route. One woman said a few days earlier she counted 18 articulated vehicles on the road, which is very narrow in places for long distances.

Another poster said: ‘The speed is a huge issue as well as the size of the vehicles using it. And the speed limit is not being observed at all. The junction at the cross at Béal na Bláth is a catastrophe waiting to happen. It’s 60kmph there as you come in from before the garage and they are coming round that bend at much higher speeds.’