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Time for parents to grow up in traffic

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Time for parents to grow up in traffic

In the first two weeks of the school term, more than 560 people have been caught speeding outside school entrances in the Stockholm region. Police say that most of the offenders are parents dropping their children off at school and then "speeding off" to work, according to Dagens Nyheter on Tuesday.

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The speed limit outside schools during term time is 30 kilometres an hour. So far 70 people have lost their licences for driving too fast, at least 90 people have been caught without a seatbelt, another 20 haven't even had a driving licence and two people have been caught drinking and driving.

"We are going to teach all grown ups to behave when driving," said Bengt Svensson, of Stockholm's traffic police, ading that the point of the exercise was as much to set a good example to children as it was to save lives.

While the main concern is said to be people talking on their mobile phones when driving, the majority of drivers are unaware of the difference it can make to slow down from 50km/h to 30km/h.

"If you have to stop for a child at 30 kilometres an hour you have time to slam on the breaks before it's too late. At 50 you don't even have time to react. The difference is that you either save a child, or you cause a fatal accident", said Bengtsson.

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