The School Zone on a Wet Morning
It is 8:25 am on a wet Tuesday. You are driving at 50 km/h on a road that becomes a school zone from 8:00 to 9:00 am. The school zone sign shows 40 km/h. Rain has reduced visibility, and the road surface is slick. A child in a yellow raincoat steps off the kerb about 25 metres ahead, partly hidden behind a parked 4WD. Your tyres are in good condition but the road is wet. You have a passenger who is running late and urging you to hurry.
1. What speed should you be travelling, and what should you do in the next few seconds?
Read the worked answer
You should already be at or below 40 km/h, and you should be slowing further.
Reasoning:
- The school zone limit of 40 km/h applies during the posted hours, regardless of whether children are visible. You are currently over the limit at 50 km/h.
- Wet roads increase stopping distance. At 40 km/h on a wet road, you need substantially more distance than on dry bitumen, so 40 is a ceiling, not a target.
- A child partly hidden behind a parked 4WD is a classic hazard: children can emerge without looking. Slow enough to stop within the distance you can see to be clear.
- The passenger's urgency is irrelevant to your legal duty. Do not let it affect your speed.
- Action: brake smoothly now, cover the brake, and be ready to stop completely if the child continues into the road.
2. If the child stops in the middle of your lane, what is the safest response and why?
Read the worked answer
Stop and wait; do not swerve around the child.
Reasoning:
- Swerving at speed on a wet road risks loss of control and can put you into oncoming traffic or onto the kerb where other children may be.
- A child may move unpredictably, so a straight-line stop with the wheels pointed ahead is more predictable.
- Sound the horn only if it will help alert the child, and only briefly. Do not rely on it.
- Once the child is clear and you have checked mirrors and blind spots, proceed slowly, still under 40 km/h.