THE operators and staff from a dale haulage firm and quarry have been teaching youngsters all about road safety.
Pupils at Cotherstone Primary School welcomed representatives from Cemex, which operates Middleton Quarry, and one of their contractors, Cotherstone haulage firm J & J G Gill & Son, which is owned by David Gill.
The two firms each brought a vehicle from their fleet to give the children the opportunity to get up close and learn more about them.
Teaching assistant Jane Batchelor, said: “The children see the trucks drive past but they don’t get the chance to be near a stationary one.
“They have watched a video about road safety and how to keep safe around large vehicles.
“They have also been given the chance to come out and see the trucks and sit inside.”
Last week’s visit was part of Cemex’s nationwide road safety campaign aimed at highlighting the potential dangers around large goods vehicles and how pedestrians can stay safe.
The children learned about the Green Cross Code and the visibility that lorry drivers have. They were also shown some of the safety elements on the trucks.
Cemex’s logistics operations manager, Ronnie Simpson, said: “There is quite a lot of traffic that comes out of Middleton Quarry and comes through the village so we thought we would contribute to the community by giving them some guidelines and advice about staying safe on the roads.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
