Police are ramping up their focus on Castlemaine’s school crossings following a concerning near-miss last week.
The increased policing focus follows last Wednesday’s incident in which a motorist drove a car through the Hargraves Street school crossing as an on-duty supervisor stood in the middle to assist school children who were preparing to cross the road at 8.45am, police said.
“The sedan just went straight through the crossing, in the 40km zone, just missing the crossing supervisor,” Senior Constable Lewis said.
“He was in a bit of shock and reported the incident.”
Crossing supervisor Craig said the incident caught him unaware and could have resulted in a worse outcome had he not just advised children who were preparing to cross to slow down.
“I’d opened the crossing to pedestrians and was standing in the middle with my sign and should have been visible to anyone,” Craig said.
“The car went straight through probably about one metre away from me. Thankfully this crossing is right outside the police station.”
The incident was captured by multiple CCTV cameras stationed at the adjacent Hargraves Street police station.
And despite being shocked by the incident, Craig also managed to note down the car’s rego, while another witness assisted in recording the registration details.
These and the CCTV footage then enabled police to contact and interview the driver who is now facing a $413 fine and three demerit points.
“The driver was a 71-year-old Castlemaine woman who has been interviewed,” Sen Const Lewis said.
“She’s been issued with an infringement notice and may also be facing a review of her licence.”
Sen Const Lewis said police will now step up their patrols of all school crossings throughout the Castlemaine area including Campbells Creek as well as those on Ray, Duke and Barker Streets.
“We’ll be stepping up patrols at all of the school crossings after this incident to make sure drivers are doing the right thing,” he said.
“It’s not about issuing fines. It’s about the safety of children and also our crossing supervisors like Craig.”
