Legislative change – protection for children: school street instead of parent taxi

It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the city or in the country: as soon as your own children are active in traffic – keyword: going to school – mom and dad get a sick feeling. Many parents prefer to take their children to class by car. In fact, “parent taxis” cause chaos in many places, especially at the beginning of the lesson, and thus pose a risk to road safety themselves.

The current StVO amendment should change that, the magic word is school streets. Previously, there was no separate regulation for this and the municipality had to draw up an individual driving ban for each location.

Here’s what the new law says:
But now the law offers uniform rules: It includes a driving ban for vehicles (with exceptions for entrances and exits at walking speed) and mechanical barriers such as bollards or barriers. Walking cycling is allowed: “The Schulstraße provides fast and targeted traffic braking near schools,” said Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler during a local inspection on a school street in Perchtoldsdorf (Lower Austria).

Andreas Ottenschläger, traffic spokesperson for the ÖVP, hopes other municipalities will follow suit soon: “We have now created the possibility at the municipal level to issue temporary driving bans at certain peak times.”