Police patrol school zones as Sydney traffic mounts

Road safety experts are urging extra caution in school zones as long traffic queues form while thousands more parents than usual drive their children to avoid public transport.

Sydney's roads are still 16 per cent less busy than before the pandemic, but half of students who usually take public transport are being driven to school under government advice.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance on Tuesday urged parents to be vigilant in school zones amid increased congestion, saying it was "a recipe for a kid to get hit".

Professor Raphael Grzebieta from the Transport and Road Safety Research unit at the University NSW said the queues forming were dangerous for students. He said it was important schools worked with local councils and parents to create their own road safety plans.

"Traffic needs to move very slowly in one direction and drivers need to be able to see what is going on around them. Children should be on one side of the road as opposed to all around," he said.

Risky driver behaviour included pulling over suddenly, parking near the school gates and reversing. "Cars have been known to reverse over children outside schools [while trying] to manoeuvre," Professor Grzebieta said.

"If schools don’t have a committee very carefully looking at how to make sure students aren’t subjected to dangerous situations, they're being negligent."

Asked which additional road safety measures were in place, the Department of Education referred questions to the NSW Department of Transport, which referred the matter to NSW Police.

"Police have been patrolling school zones and called to assist some schools with general traffic duties," a NSW Police spokeswoman said.

"As students return to normal schedules this week, police are reminding all road users to be safe around schools and consider the risks to themselves and young people."

Some schools have introduced staggered pick-up and drop-off times to minimise congestion.

"Each school will provide their community with advice on drop-off and pick-up procedures," an education department spokesperson said.

Joint director of the Transurban Road Safety Centre, Julie Brown, said there were also more children walking and riding bikes to school, which was positive from a health perspective.

“But if the situations are becoming more complex, we need to take greater care and do the right thing,” she said. “Keep under speed limit, don’t use your phone, and be aware it’s a complex situation.”

Killara High School, which has local police patrolling the area, has asked parents to start meeting students at pre-arranged locations away from the school's main street.

"We have limited space to manoeuvre, and your support in this regard will assist," the principal said in a letter to parents. "I will be requesting assistance from our local council for further suggestions."

With parents barred from entering school grounds, there were also concerns about social distancing as parents congregated outside. "There were close to hundred people waiting to enter the small gate," a parent observed on Wednesday afternoon at Kent Road Public School in Eastwood.