A plea for a 20mph speed limit on roads next to every school in Moray was rejected yesterday when councillors voted against spending £270,000 on the plan.
The economic development and infrastructure committee voted seven to five in favour of finding an alternative safety strategy.
All except 17 of Moray’s 54 schools have had a 20mph limit introduced.
SNP councillor Gary Coull teamed up with party colleague and fellow councillor Irene Ogilvie to put forward the 20mph proposal.
Mr Coull argued the council had a duty to stay in line with Scottish Government guidance and instal 20mph restrictions outside all schools. Scottish ministers made the commitment in 2003.
“We as a council should be putting this initiative forward to make sure that all school children are safe,” he said.
“The charity Brake said that if someone is hit by a car at 20mph, there’s a 90% chance of survival.
“At 40mph, there’s only a 15% chance of survival. I would hate to see the statistics at 60mph.”
Independent councilor John Russell disagreed with Mr Coull.
He said there may be other sledgehammers to “crack this particular nut”.
Arguing that no pupils had been injured by a car outside a school since 2004, Mr Russell called for councillors to come back to the debate after a summer trial of a road safety system called SeeMe had been completed.
The system sees a warning light mounted on a bus stop activated by a device clipped to a pupil’s schoolbag.
Mr Russell was supported by Independent councillor Allan Wright.
SNP councillor Graeme Leadbitter argued the matter was one of public perception. He said he did not have a problem with the technical arguments but was aware that the community did not share that view.
“If people perceive that there’s a safety risk that’s not good for parents, children or the community. It has a negative impact on the wellbeing of the community in the same way that fear of crime has an impact on the community,” he said.
Robert Stewart, Moray Council’s director of environmental services, said while he accepted the public perceived 20mph restrictions to be safer, expert advice from the council’s technical team was to the contrary.
Councillors agreed to debate the issue again in autumn.
Mr Coull accused the council of “kicking the issue into the long grass”.