Fraserburgh school introduces new "parking buddies" to thwart bad parking
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A FRASERBURGH school has set up a force of new "parking buddies" to put off dangerous parkers.
Aberdeenshire Council has introduced a new measure to tackle bad parking at St Andrews School in Fraserburgh – aluminium cut-outs of children.
The cut-outs, affectionately named parking buddies, feature waist-high cartoon images of school pupils holding road-crossing lollipop signs.
Encouraging drivers to "think before you park", the new signs have been funded by charity initiative Smarter Choices, Smarter Places.
In the crosshairs of the parking buddies are drivers who block crossings and mount the pavement to park, which reduces safe access points to the school.
They also encourage reduced car use through the promotion of active travel means including walking, cycling and scooting to school, so pupils get more exercise.
This also reduces congestion and air pollution in the area around schools.
Ewan Wallace, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Aberdeenshire Council, welcomed the introduction of the helpful buddies.
He said: “The safety of pupils is of paramount importance to us and we hope that these Parking Buddies – operating in conjunction with existing traffic safety measures outside schools and classroom- based safety awareness sessions - will help safeguard children in the future.”
