One Te Puke mum is taking matters into her own hands to improve bus safety and awareness by way of signage and stickers along the area's school bus routes.

Rebecca Vercoe has three primary aged school children and wants them and other children to be safe when getting to and from Te Puke schools.

'My son goes on the bus now and I've got twin five-year-olds who are about to start school. It takes time for children to get on/off the bus, this can result in a backup of traffic,” says Te Puke mum, Rebecca.

She says where she lives on No. 2 Rd, Te Puke is 'quite a dangerous stretch of road and there is now a lot of traffic on it”.

Blind corners and concerns

Rebecca's solution is to place stickers and increase signage in the No.2 Rd area to enhance vehicle user's awareness of buses.

'Speeding in general is a concern and a lot of drivers do not pay attention of it being a bus route, not only on No. 2 road, but all rural roads.”

An added risk is the seasonal workers that travel our roads in the [kiwifruit] season. She says the sooner stickers and signage can be put in place the better.

'So often a change is made after there's been a fatality, and it drives me bonkers when it has been put forward and put forward that it's a dangerous situation.”

Council and schools on board

Active in the school community, Rebecca has been working with Te Puke Intermediate's principal Jill Weldon and Fairhaven School's principal Paul Hunt to launch the initiative.

Western Bay of Plenty Council are also in support of Rebecca's bus safety ideas and applaud her initiative.

'We've been speaking with Rebecca and agree that more can be done to ensure the safety of our tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau while they wait for the bus, especially on No 2 Road," says WBOP roading engineer, Ashley Hall.

We're going to expand on Rebecca's initial request to place stickers on letter boxes and signs on buses and will be addressing the cause of the concerns."

Ashley says WBOP council are planning to meet with Rebecca and Travel Safe to pin point locations on No. 2 Road where there's a safety risk and identify what can be done.

'We're also planning to work with school bus operators to take their insights on board and get the best, safest solution for everyone.”

If you have similar safety concerns or ideas to keep tamariki and rangatahi safe, WBOP invites people to get in touch.

To support Rebecca with her initiative with ideas or to support funding email: shawrj@hotmail.co.nz