Trick or treat for parent cabs
27.11.2024 – A safe route to school is particularly important for the youngest and most inexperienced road users, especially for primary school children starting school in the fall. Many of them do not yet have the ability to assess the dangers that can arise from cars that appear to be parked but then suddenly drive off. For this reason, the municipal public order office once again organized a road safety week this year. Nine Offenbach schools took part.
"As head of the schools and public order department, it is particularly important to me to ensure safe routes to school. In addition to the regular traffic checks carried out by the city police in front of schools, the joint campaign with schools, which has been established for many years and focuses on children, is a key element in ensuring greater safety," says city councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß. "Primary schools are just a few minutes' walk away, especially in the city center, so there are rarely good reasons to drop children off by car right outside the school gates."
Many teachers, parents and pupils stood in front of the schools. They handed out homemade hearts, chocolates and roses to parents who followed the rules and, at best, walked their children to school. Sad smileys and lemons were especially given to the parent cabs that stopped illegally, obstructed traffic and, at worst, caused dangerous situations.
The campaign was accompanied by the city police, who only intervened when things got particularly dicey. Three parents were particularly intransigent. They insisted on driving their children directly to school and were not persuaded by the school management or the police. One father even claimed that far more children were abducted on the way to school than were injured in road traffic.
As in the previous twelve years, the public order office had invited Offenbach's primary and special schools to the joint road safety week. This time, the Eichendorffschule, Friedrich-Ebert-Schule, Beethovenschule, Waldschule Tempelsee, Grundschule Buchhügel, Wilhelmschule, Schule Bieber - Standort Nord, Humboldtschule and Wildbachschule im Hainbachtal took part. The annual road safety campaign is organized by the City of Offenbach's public order office as part of its community prevention work.
"During Road Safety Week, the kids use their self-designed signs, smileys and hearts to draw the attention of road users to their misconduct in a charming way. Parents in particular, who are not aware of their behavior, show understanding and are impressed by the strong presence of the children, teachers, parents and law enforcement officers on the streets," says Frank Weber, Head of the Public Order Office. "However, in future checks by the city and traffic police in front of schools, parent cabs must now expect severe penalties."
