Simply walking to and from school should not be a fraught experience for children or leave parents frightened their youngsters risk being hit by passing motorists speeding too fast or not paying attention to their driving.

That?s why speed signs and speed monitoring equipment are going up near schools around the Island in a bid to combat motorists who put children?s lives at risk. It is only two years since little six-year-old Tyaisha Cox died when she was hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing as she made her way to a summer day camp at the Purvis Primary School on St Mary?s Road in Warwick.

Relatives of the youngster later campaigned for more to be done to change the law regarding driving without due care and attention. The road safety project now underway to deter bad driving and speeding near schools is seen as one positive way of addressing such road death tragedies amongst the very young. The Purvis Primary School is one of many on the list that will benefit from being part of the Government?s School Zone Safety project.

Speed detector monitors are being erected at various locations across the Island over the coming months.

Already, Whitney Institute Middle School has been the first to receive the prototype speed monitor equipment and speed signs will soon go up on Middle Road near to the Southampton Glebe Primary School.

At the same time the School Zone Safety Project is rolling out features such as anti-skid materials and distinctive, visible road markings and signs in areas around other schools.

Schools that have so far been fully fitted out with the special road markings include both Southampton Glebe and Whitney Institute as well as Port Royal School and Paget Primary. The Purvis Primary School is on the list for the same safety features in coming months.

?The School Zone Safety project and the various signage, including the speed monitors, are intended to enhance the safety of the children going to and from school,? said the Minister for Works and Engineering and Housing, Ashfield DeVent. The project is a joint effort between Mr. DeVent?s Ministry and the Ministry of Transport.

Other schools that will receive the safety road markings soon include the Bermuda College and Gilbert Institute in Paget, while design work is underway for Purvis Primary School, Francis Patton Primary, Elliot Primary, Spice Valley Middle School, Heron Bay Primary and West End Primary. In 2006 a school road safety scheme is planned.