School is back in session; drivers need to use caution

Driving to work the other day I was traveling through a school zone. With the speed limit at 20 miles per hour, I was probably not completely abiding by the speed limit. But what shocked me was the little old lady who blew around me like I was standing still.

With school back in session, it made me think how quickly something bad could happen. This little old lady either had no clue she was driving through a school zone or didn’t care. And there is no way if a child darted out in front of her, she could have avoided any kind of tragedy.

Beginning this week, the streets are filled with parents scrambling to drop their kids off at school, buses picking kids up for school and many children who walk to school.

Also, with the new Wing Elementary School opening, there are new school zones and new speed limits to obey. And there will be extra attention paid this year to those parking on Ables near Southeast Elementary. No longer can you show up and park for 30 minutes while waiting for school to get out. Officers with Sikeston DPS will be enforcing the no parking zones and hopefully this will make the area safer, allowing residents to see oncoming traffic when they pull onto Ables.

Nobody likes the speed limits in school zones but it is for the safety of the children. When driving through these zones, drivers need to expect the unexpected. You never know when a child may dart out in the street without looking for traffic.

Part of expecting the unexpected is actually paying attention. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen someone driving while looking at their phone, I could have retired by now. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, looking away from the roadway to just check a text message doubles your chances of being involved in a crash.

Also remember that it is illegal to pass a school pass that has its red warning lights on and it’s stop sign extended. Every year I hear calls to the police of a driver passing a school bus and that can be really dangerous.

Hopefully with school back in session drivers will show a little more caution than the little old lady with the lead foot and everyone will have a safe school year.

David Jenkins is co-editor of the Standard Democrat.