Primary school makes young pupils act as CORPSES in bizarre road safety stunt

A GROUP of schoolkids are promoting safe driving – by playing DEAD in the middle of a road.

The "unusual" stunt to persuade drivers to be more cautious saw Banchory Primary School pupils strewn across the asphalt - lying in patterns on yellow lines.

And the project, which features a series of striking images, has split opinions between parents and safety experts.

The stunt was organised to urge motorists to use care when picking up and dropping off kids from school.

Parents at the Alloa school said the desperate measure came about after all other ideas had been investigated.

Now the stunt has created a stir and accident prevention charities have warned that parents and schools should resort to more "traditional means of publicising" road safety.

But the local police force said the dramatic approach would grab the attention of drivers and "hopefully get the message across more effectively".

Councillor Darren Lee, who represents the Clackmannanshire West ward, said he supports the "bold move".

He said: "I am in total agreement of what the parent council is trying to do. Just a couple of weeks ago, my son was nearly hit by a car speeding down that road.

"There are a lot of near misses on a regular basis. Nothing is working. We've tried working with the police and speed bumps and yellow lines were put in place.

"Unfortunately, people are completely flouting those. They speed over the bumps and park over the lines. We need to start educating the parents," he added.

"I think this image was needed because sometimes you need to shock people into action. We just want the parents to be educated.

"Sadly, if they don't take notice, it's inevitable that a fatality will occur."

Alastair Freck, chair of the parent council, said the mock-up of the pupils playing dead has already sparked some debate among parents on social media.

However, he argues there have been a number of "close calls" in recent memory and that their efforts are aimed at making sure the image of children injured or killed does not become a reality.

He said: "It is a bit unusual and a bit dramatic, but seems to be having the desired effect because people are already talking about it.

"And though it's caused a bit of a stir, it has been mostly well-received.

"It's not about blaming parents," he added.

"We just want people driving near to the school to consider where and how they are parking and to make sure they are doing so safely and legally.

"There has been a quite a few close calls in the past and generally speaking some of the kids can find it hard to cross roads and get to school.