Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 8-11 July 2013 "Transport and Sustainable Infrastructure", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.
The paper explores the issue of perceived high speeds of vehicles around two rural schools and one urban school in the Western Cape and investigates whether those
perceptions are based on fact. The two rural schools chosen for the study were identified
by Cape Winelands' District Municipality as schools where local residents regularly raise
concerns around the speeds of vehicles. The study examines actual speeds but looks also
at the safety issues of speed more generally, particularly as it relates to the perceptions of
and risks facing children as a consequence of their physiological limitations. The findings
suggest that while levels of speed compliance may fall within an acceptable range, the
speed limits themselves may be inappropriate for child-dominated road space, given the
challenges that children have regarding perceiving and responding to moving vehicles.
