Pupils who helped design a special road safety zone around their school were today commended by the roads minister, Baroness Hayman, who officially opened it.

Measures to calm traffic near Huntington School, York, were installed after a survey revealed one in five pupils had experienced an accident or near miss.

The new zone imposes a 20mph limit on motorists and includes raised pedestrian crossings and new cycle lanes. Speeds have dropped from 33mph to 18mph, on average, since it was introduced.

Baroness Hayman commended the York scheme, which has been built in conjunction with the national cycling charity Sustrans.

She said: "With more and more schemes such as this making the roads safer for children, I hope that many more of us will be encouraged to look again at the alternatives to taking the car."

Huntington School headteacher Chris Bridge said the design of the safety zone had been influenced by the school's pupils, who went on a fact-finding visit to a similar scheme in Denmark.

"The new layout will help pupils to cycle to school in greater safety and we hope more of them will take this healthy option," he said.

The safety zone at Huntington is the first fruits of York's Safe Routes to School project.

Councillor Dave Merrett, chairman of the City of York Council's planning and transport committee, said: "The pupils gave us a valuable insight into their views on traffic and safety problems. Their feedback from the Denmark visit produced some excellent ideas on how we could go about making school journeys safer.

"We listened to what they had to say and I am delighted that this 20mph zone is helping them to travel safely and independently to school."

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