Canberra parents are calling on the government to follow the rest of Australia in implementing a school crossing program in a bid to improve safety near schools.
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The program would see a lollipop person directing traffic at busy pedestrian crossings.
ACT Labor would not say why the territory was the only jurisdiction in the country without such a program, and neither the ACT Greens or Canberra Liberals said why one was not considered in their election promises regarding school-zone safety.
Canberra mother Mia Swainson joined the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations' push for all ACT election candidates to commit to prioritising student safety by tackling traffic chaos.
She believed some crucial safety concerns would be left unaddressed by the ACT Greens' promised $20 million initiative to help every Canberra school develop individual traffic management plans, as well as the Liberals' proposal to install flashing lights in all school zones.
Her main concern was the "dangerous" Brigalow Street pedestrian crossing outside Lyneham Primary School where two of her children attend, and where a parent was hit in May last year.
She said a van tried to squeeze between pedestrians at the busy intersection but hit the woman, who was walking slightly in front of her two children. Luckily no one was hurt, but the mother was taken to hospital and onlookers were shaken up, Ms Swainson said.
"Everyone who saw it was in distress because she wasn't moving much after being hit," she said.
"A car drives past that crossing every four seconds so many become impatient."
Ms Swainson said she sat through morning and afternoon peak hours at the Lyneham crossing multiple times to count each passing child, adult, bike and car and found that on average about 150 pedestrians (including 42 accompanied and 24 unaccompanied), 10 bikes and nearly 1000 cars pass through every hour.
Based on the number of unaccompanied children and traffic flow, she found the crossing would be eligible for a supervised school crossing in all states that have a count in their criteria.
"In the afternoon I observed 15 dangerous vehicles and two near misses between vehicles and pedestrians, both times vehicles had not seen pedestrians on the school side of the crossing and pedestrians stopped suddenly to avoid a collision," she said.
"The Greens' proposal addresses some key issues but the risk at this crossing and others in Canberra will still be there."
When approaching the ACT government about the issue, Ms Swainson said she was encouraged to run her own voluntary crossing program with teachers and other parents.
But she said children remained at risk because not enough people were interested in volunteering.
ACT Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris did not answer why the ACT was the only state without a school crossing program or whether she believed one should be the responsibility of individual schools or the government.
She said Labor had introduced a number of measures to decrease traffic around schools, including funding a schools transport co-ordinator in the 2016-17 ACT budget who liaises with staff on all transport issues for government.
"We will have even more to say about traffic management around schools in the lead-up to the election," she said.
Canberra Liberals' shadow transport minister Alistair Coe said his party was "open to considering" introducing a school crossing program if elected, while ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury did not comment specifically.
"The $20 million initiative the ACT Greens have announced will allow us to work with schools to determine what their individual needs are and develop a traffic management plan that is specific to their school community," Mr Rattenbury said.
