First 40km/h school zone flashing red

St Joseph's Primary School pupils in Onehunga with the new sign. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Auckland City's first 40km/h school speed zone was launched at an Onehunga school yesterday, on one of the most dangerous roads in the area.

More than 250 Auckland City schoolchildren have been involved in on-road crashes in the past five years, with more than 50 per cent occurring when students travel to and from school.

St Joseph's principal Andy Thompson said the need to improve the safety of the Church St crossing was reinforced when a young child was knocked over in December 2004.

"The signs will assist our school patrol with traffic coming at a slower speed." He said the bright flashing sign would make motorists realise they were driving in a school zone.

Motorists have been found speeding at up to 70km/h during peak times in the former 50km/h school zone.

Police support the initiative, saying it builds on their on-going road safety education campaign that targets and tickets motorists driving more than 5km/h over the limit near schools, instead of the usual 10km/h threshold.

Karen Hay, council's traffic safety manager, said the new technology was being tested over six months before being installed at other schools.

"It's signage custom-made by the council, solar-powered energy efficient, so we need to check if improvements need to be made."