Road safety campaign launched to protect school wardens

Mayor of South Dublin, Cllr Francis Timmons, said school wardens “play an essential role in helping children get to school safely” and appealed to drivers to “show some respect and obey our school wardens.”

South Dublin County Council’s (SDCC) Road Safety Officer, Orlaith Maguire, said the campaign aims to remind people to “Respect Our School Wardens”, saying that some wardens face drivers who refuse to stop or travel at inappropriate speeds, as well as verbal abuse from members of the public, behaviour she described as unacceptable.

The video features pupils from Scoil Maelruain National School in Tallaght, who describe their school warden as kind and friendly because she knows them by name and makes them feel safe.

SDCC school warden Lisa Cullen also appears in the video, speaking about the personal side of her role and how getting to know the children and being recognised by them each day are among the aspects of the job she enjoys most.

Some drivers don’t obey the law

Fellow warden Mary Lynch describes some of the more alarming incidents she has witnessed, including a driver using a mobile phone while approaching the school and another who drove straight through her stop signal as though she wasn’t there.

The video also warns of the dangers of parking on double-yellow or zigzag lines near school crossings, which can block a warden’s line of sight and the view of children trying to cross, putting both at risk.

Damien Duff, a sergeant with An Garda Síochána, also appears in the video to remind people that only school wardens and Gardaí are legally entitled to stop traffic.

Up to €160 fine for ignoring a school warden

He reminded motorists of the penalties for non-compliance: a €40 fine for parking on double-yellow lines or across a school entrance; €60 plus three penalty points for dangerous parking; and €160 plus two penalty points for failing to obey a school warden’s instruction.

The campaign follows the publication of the RSA’s Child Casualties Report 2021–2025, which shows that 38 children aged 15 or under were killed and a further 620 seriously injured on Irish roads over the five-year period.

One in eight of these casualties occurred while the child was travelling to or from school. Children accounted for 5 per cent of all road fatalities and 8 per cent of all serious injuries during that time, with roughly two in three child casualties being either pedestrians or cyclists. Almost half of all child casualties (48 per cent) were pedestrians, 26 per cent were vehicle passengers and 17 per cent were cyclists.

Seven in ten (72 per cent) were injured on roads with a speed limit of 60km/h or lower. A similar proportion were injured between noon and 8pm. The highest proportion of casualties occurred on Fridays (20 per cent), while between 13 and 17 per cent occurred on each day from Monday to Thursday.

Close to a third (32 per cent) of child casualties occurred in Dublin and a further 9 per cent occurred in Cork.

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