Road Safety

Road Safety & Traffic Management

Please find below detail & informaiton provided by the Meath County Council Road Safety Officer and correspondence provided to all Parents.


Dear Principals,

I have been in the area of Donacarney Primary Schools with members of An Garda Síochana on a number of occasions recently.

What we have witnessed, particularly in the afternoons, leaves us extremely concerned for the safety of children. Cars are parked on footpaths outside the school and on the cycle lane outside the school and generally causing obstruction and danger to all road users.

We have witnessed the roundabout in the school grounds blocked with parked cars.  This prevents the schools buses gaining access in order to collect students.

We have witnessed cars having extreme difficulty in exiting the school grounds, because the road is blocked with illegally parked vehicles. The drop and go system in the school grounds is not being used properly by some drivers, because they are parking and causing back- ups onto the roadway.

We have witnessed cars parking in the bus bays, which is forbidden, and causes mayhem when buses arrive.

We spend the vast majority of our time providing road safety education to students in Meath schools, but, It is defeating the whole purpose of what we are trying to achieve, when we see parents/guardians utterly ignoring all laws and regulations in relation to road safety.

If the present disregard for road safety regulations and road safety in general, continues outside your schools, the Gardai will be asked to enforce the regulations in the area to help alleviate the present concerns and improve the safety for everybody in the area.

I would ask that you bring the concerns outlined above to the attention of all parents/guardians.


Yours sincerely,
Michael Finnegan.

Road Safety Officer
Meath County Council.



September 2019.

Dear Parents/Guardians,


As the new year begins and with the health and safety of all the children attending Donacarney G.N.S to the fore, I would like to remind you about our procedures and routines around children coming to and going home from school.

At the morning drop-off and at the 3.00p.m. pick-up times we have witnessed many drivers behaving in a very careless and inconsiderate manner . Their actions are dangerous and are a breach of our Health and Safety policy which has been drawn up in conjunction with the safety officer of Meath Co. Council.

Therefore, we would like to draw your attention to the following points:

We operate a drop and go system to keep traffic moving. Most children will be able to walk safely from their car either through the court or on the footpath to the school entrance. Some will need to be accompanied.

Parents are encouraged to drop their child and move off to make room for others. Your child is completely safe once they have entered the school yard. The same applies at 3pm where the children are picked up from the court.

The staff car park is clearly marked and is out of bounds for all traffic except for the following:

 

• Staff

 

• Parents of special needs children who have designated parking spaces.

 

• Buses including buses travelling with special needs children.

N.B. PARKING ON THE ROUNDABOUT AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY IS FORBIDDEN.

The bus bays in front of the girls’ school are clearly marked and we would ask all parents to respect this rule.

PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE BUS BAY AT ANY TIME.

Walking to Bettystown:

• To exit the school on foot and going in the Bettystown direction use the small pedestrian gate and turn left. If driving to Bettystown please have your car parked in that direction

• NO U-TURNS AT ENTRANCE GATE.  

Walking to Donacarney:

• Exit via the court, cross on the pedestrian crossing and exit the small gate using the footpath to turn right. Stay on the footpath at all times. Please have your car parked in the direction of Donacarney.

• NO U-TURNS AT ENTRANCE GATE.  

The large gates are for vehicles only – NO PEDESTRIAN USE AT THESE GATES.

Please do not park close to the gates where all vehicles are entering and exiting (parking close to these gates blocks the way and the view causing great difficulty for the bus drivers and other road users).

Car-Pooling: We would suggest car-pooling to those of you who are travelling to school from the same area.  This would greatly ease the volume of traffic at peak times.

NO DOGS ALLOWED IN SCHOOL GROUNDS.       


Wet and windy conditions exasperate the flow of traffic, BE PATIENT.  

Please abide by these measures for the safety of all.

We would ask for your continued support.

John Corbett.
Chairperson – Board of Management


Michael Finnegan.
Road Safety Officer – Meath County Council