'Why did you think it was OK to put my life at risk?' Leitrim councillor recommends 'Kids court'
"Kids Court" is a road safety initiative in Northern Ireland where children aged 10–11 confront drivers caught speeding outside their schools, forcing them to explain their actions to the pupils.
A Leitrim councillor has proposed that a ‘kids court system’ be introduced in Ireland similar to the one Northern Ireland in order to encourage drivers to slow down on Irish roads, especially outside schools.
"Kids Court" is a road safety initiative in Northern Ireland where children aged 10–11 confront drivers caught speeding outside their schools, forcing them to explain their actions to the pupils. Supported by the police, the scheme aims to reduce school zone speeding by educating drivers on the impact of their actions on children's safety.
Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said to Oceanfm: "The idea is that if you exceed the speed limit passing a centre of education rather than get a penalty point applied to your license or a fixed cash fine, you be asked along to justify to the children and staff of that education centre why you thought it was OK to travel in excess of the permittable speed."
He admitted that while the seems "a bit novel of new" he added that "if any of us had to go in and sit down in front of a group of youngsters and have them eyeball us and say 'Why did you think it was OK to put my life at risk."
Cllr O'Rourke noted that "over the last weekend, we had a go slow campaign being driven by the Gardaí and there were cases where people had exceeded 127km/h in 50km/h zones. If you were one of those people and it happened to be at a school area and you were brought back in, I'd say you'd have to stay up many a night to think of a set of words to justify that to those youngsters."
Cllr O'Rourke concluded: "We have been hammering this home for years and years; punishment doesn't work in the traditional sense of a cash fine or penalty points; for many people that doesn't bother them."