According to the United States Census Bureau, 76 million students are heading back to school this year. That is a lot of students walking to and around school grounds. It is also a time of year when police departments work to remind drivers just how important it is to pay attention to school zone speed limits. Speeding through a school zone can be dangerous, and it can also be costly.
School Zones Abound
If you have ever driven near a school, as most people have, you will have noticed that sometimes you need to slow down. Most school speeding zones only require drivers to slow down at times when school is gathering in and letting out its students at the beginning and end of the day. Usually, signs are posted, and most require that drivers adhere to a 15-25 mile per hour (mph) rate during those times, with the exact speed limit varying by state.
The reason that states have these reduced speed zones is because there are so many children in the area at those times. Research has shown that reducing the speed in these areas greatly reduces the chances of a fatal accident. In fact, research has shown that a vehicle-pedestrian crash at 40 mph has an 80 percent chance of a fatality, while a 30 mph collision lowers that to a 40 percent chance. Reducing the speed to 25 mph in these areas further reduces the chance of fatality to 20 percent, and dropping the speed all the way to 20 mph brings the chances of a pedestrian fatality down to a mere five percent.
Still Speeding
Despite research that shows just how much you can help to avoid pedestrian fatalities by reducing your speed in school zones, many people still don’t abide by the posted signs. Research conducted in 63 school zones across the country by SAFE KIDS found that over 65 percent of all vehicles in their study traveled at least 10 mph over the posted school-zone speed. They also found that nearly 33 percent of those drivers were going at speeds 30 mph and over.
This time of year, police departments are out in full force, handing out speeding tickets in an effort to raise awareness about the issue. Some news channels report hundreds of tickets being issued in one school zone in a single week. Most of the time, these tickets are not cheap, carrying a much heftier fine and penalty than those received in non-school areas.
Slowing Down
While it may seem tedious at times to slow down in a school zone, there are many compelling reasons to do so. Not only is it much safer, it can also save you a lot of money since, in addition to getting hit with a high fine for the citation, your auto insurance rates will usually also increase as a result of the ticket.
