Keep trucks away from schools, Dutch traffic assoc. says

As schools reopen after the summer holidays, Dutch safe traffic association VVN is calling on trucks to stay away from schools, especially when schools start and get out. This can help prevent serious accidents involving children, the association said to AD.

"They could ride a quarter of an hour earlier or later, or take a different route", VVN spokesperson Rob Stomphorst said to the newspaper. 

The association also called on parents not to take their kids to school by car each day during the first weeks. If they cycle or walk to school with their children, parents can teach them how to do this safely. At the same time this will mean fewer cars on the road and therefore less risk.

According to the VVN, the number of road causalities among 12-year-old cyclists doubles in September compared to the rest of the year. This has to do with kids having to get used to traffic on the way to new schools, and more cars on the road in September. 

Transport insurer TVM also called on truckers to avoid schools in the coming period. The insurer is considering developing an app that automatically redirects truckers at times when it is busy at schools, such as at the start or end of a school day, according to the newspaper. 

After six weeks of summer vacations, pupils in Noord-Brabant, Limburg, Zeeland and a large part of Gelderland returned to school on Monday. Next week the school year starts for pupils in the Midden-Nederland regions, and for kids in the north the week after that.