The Unfenced School

Scenario. You are driving on a murram road past a school with no fence between the playground and the road. It is mid-morning, and children are outside.

The clues. School buildings, uniforms, noise, a ball in play, children at the road edge, dust on the road. And the time of day: arrival, break and home time are when the road edge fills with children.

What could happen. A ball, a game, a friend calling from across the road, and a child runs out without looking. The curriculum names all three triggers. The Swedish Theory Book explains why children behave like this. It is not carelessness; it is development:

• They are playful and impulsive. A child who has seen you and made eye contact can still run out when a friend calls.
• Their senses are still developing. They are slower to shift focus between near and far, and worse at telling where a sound is coming from, so they may not realise where your car is.
• They can't judge risk. They judge a car coming slowly and a car coming fast in much the same way.
• They are small. A child can be completely hidden behind a parked vehicle, a stall or a bush.

On murram the problem is doubled: braking distances are longer and less predictable, as Murram and Unpaved Roads showed, and dust can hang over the road.

What to do.

1. Slow down well before the school, to a speed at which you could stop for a child appearing from the edge. Slow enough that stopping is easy, not merely possible.
2. Cover the brake and move away from the edge where you safely can.
3. Watch the children, not just the road. Look for the ball, the game, the child facing the other way.
4. Don't rely on the horn. A child may not locate the sound, and it can startle a child into running.

Children in Traffic covers the full picture; this is the scene where it matters most.