School bus caught in speeding blitz

Senior Sergeant Kevin Anderson operates a speed radar on SH39 yesterday. Photo / Alan Gibson

A school bus has been caught in a police blitz on speeding vehicles.

Nelson Bays police stopped 121 vehicles yesterday -- an average of one car every six minutes -- issuing infringement notices to 101 drivers.

Police hope the crackdown will remind motorists to slow down in school zones.

The bus was travelling 48 km/h in 40km/h zone. "You would think he would know better," district police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn said.

Several other drivers were pulled over for speeding in school zones after ignoring speed limits. "There are actually flashing lights in those zones so they're reasonably hard to miss," Dunn added.

Nelson Bays Prevention Manager Acting Senior Sergeant Mike Wardle said he was also disappointed to hear of the speeding school bus. "These drivers are entrusted with the safety of other people's children and I would expect they would be more aware than other road users of the risks they faced."

Wardle said all drivers should remember to take special care around school zones. "It's timely to remind drivers that traffic travelling in either direction on the road is required to slow down to 20km/h for a stopped school bus. Many people seem to be unaware of their responsibility when they are on the opposite side of the road," he said.

Police issued 32 tickets for speeding and another 18 for drivers going 20km/h past a school bus which had stopped to pick up or drop off children.

A further 13 drivers were found to be breaching graduated driver licence conditions and three were caught using mobile phones.

Police said yesterday's 12 hour blitz was part of a bigger operation running for the next two months. The operation would target motorists using cellphones while driving, and people who their restricted and learner licence conditions.