Back to School We Go…

Those 20-mph school-zone signs aren’t there just to annoy you. Really.

Every year at around this time, we hear reminders on the news that kids are back in school and that drivers need to slow down in school zones. As if the possibility of injuring or killing children isn’t motivation enough to obey the posted rules, we’re informed that we may be recorded by photo-enforcement speed cameras, slapped with hefty fines, or potentially pulled over by waiting local police.

Many years ago, a friend of mine complained about getting not one but two speeding tickets in three weeks’ time while driving through a school zone near his house. He claimed self-righteously that he was going only 5 or 7 miles over the posted 20-mph limit and that he never knew that automated speed cameras were there until the tickets arrived in the mailbox. (Except that it was to my mailbox, since he’d been driving my car while his was getting repaired, so the tickets were mailed to me, the registered owner.) Outraged that the combined fines totaled $468 and by the sheer injustice of it all, he argued his case in court and got the fines lowered.

What appalled me most was what was at stake. He himself was the father of two girls under the age of 10 at the time, and somehow, he utterly failed to make the connection between his actions and his children’s safety. What if that had been his own daughters he was endangering? But to him, this wasn’t about the serious consequences of jeopardizing a young life; instead, he felt he didn’t deserve to be penalized. After all, he never intended any harm, and it was only several miles over the limit.

Many of us have been in this same boat. We have all (me included) exceeded the speed limit in a school zone at some point, and not by just a few miles, either. If confronted about it, we hem and haw, chalking it up to not paying attention, or that we missed the signs, or that the signs themselves were confusing (more on that in a moment). Besides, we indignantly argue, we don’t need to slow down that much.

But speed is deceptive. It’s obvious that the faster a vehicle is going, the more likely any person hit by one will be seriously injured or killed. But the rate is not evenly proportional. According to studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and international research organizations, a person hit at 20 mph has less than a 5 percent chance of dying, but add just 3 miles to that hour (yes, 23 mph) and suddenly fatalities leap up to 10 percent. At 32 mph, it’s 25 percent; and at 42 mph, it jumps to 50 percent. Over 50 mph, death is pretty much guaranteed.

So, while a 15- or 20-mph limit may seem absurdly slow when you’re behind the wheel, now you know why school zones are set to them.

Sometimes drivers are confused by school-zone signage, which may declare “School speed limit 20” while another sign underneath indicates, “On school days when children are present.” Another sign, perched above a yellow traffic signal light, might add, “When flashing.” What applies when? Do we always know when it’s a school day? Or not? Surely there’s nothing to worry about during the summer?

Automated school-zone lights are typically set to flash one hour before and after school is in session. When they flash, all drivers in the posted zones must go no faster than 15 or 20 mph (and slower if necessary—such as when kids and waiting cars are present). Once these flashing lights shut off, drivers may legally resume the higher regular speed limit posted in the vicinity.

But, if you think about it, just because the lights aren’t flashing doesn’t mean that children aren’t present. It’s critical to actively look around for kids and go slowly when the lights are not on and school is not in session, even in the evenings, weekends, and holidays. Kids may be heading to the area to use playgrounds, sporting fields, and other facilities at the school, or visiting for other reasons. And yes—technically school-zone speed limits could still apply in the summer, when there might be special sessions, summer camps, and other seasonal events happening.

The bottom line is, you can never really be too cautious when it comes to genetic units.

In October 2016, the nonprofit organization Safe Kids Worldwide published a study of the street crossing behavior of more than 39,000 American middle and high school students walking to and from school and more than 56,000 driver observations during student drop-off and pick-up. Up to 83 percent of middle schoolers and 76 percent of high school students were observed to be distracted or not following proper crossing protocol while walking; at least 1 in 10 drivers were observed to be distracted by mobile devices while arriving and departing from the school, and nearly 1 in 3 drivers endangered pedestrians in some way, like blocking a crosswalk.

In another Safe Kids study, 40 percent of 1,040 American teens interviewed reported that they had been hit or nearly hit by a car, bike, or motorcycle while walking. In Canada, that number rose to 51 percent among 510 teens surveyed. They reported that drivers weren’t paying attention (72 percent) or that the driver was going too fast (30 percent). Teens also admitted they failed to look before stepping onto the road (20 percent), as well as being distracted by their electronic devices or music (8 percent).

Without a doubt, distraction on the part of both drivers and kids plays a huge role. But to be fair, humans also excel at ignoring risks and consequences until something goes wrong. Like my friend, we don’t intend to injure or kill anyone. It’s also true that pretty much all collisions happen because normal people like us are doing normal things with normal expectations, which is reinforced by the fact that we normally get through our days without anything abnormal happening. We’re just being human.

But nearly all collisions are the result of the three S’s—too much speed, too little space, and a surprise. It’s that last S that really gets us.

In the US, driver education rarely trains us to adequately scan for people of any age anywhere. Nor are we sufficiently versed in hazard perception or even consistent basic situational awareness. And once we get behind the wheel, we become awfully driver-centric. Our brains tend to be thinking about everything else but driving and what’s around us, both near and far.

Not only that, but, as I write this, the days are getting shorter, meaning that more kids are wandering around schools—or walking to and from them—under the cover of early morning, late afternoon, or evening darkness. The slender, shorter profiles of children also make them harder to see and easier to miss than adults. This is even more true when we drive heavier, larger, taller vehicles like SUVs and pickup trucks.

The result is that school zones must compensate for all this with scads of signage, flashing beacon lights, adult crossing guards armed with safety vests and bright orange flags, automated speed photo enforcement cameras issuing tickets heading for mailboxes, significant fines, and maybe even the presence of a waiting police car or two to finally get us to slow down and pay attention.

When really, it’s the point of all this—not endangering a child—that should be enough motivation in the first place.

---

Photo credits (top to bottom): iStock, LSOphoto; (both children crossing and struck child) iStock, KatarzynaBialasiewicz; iStock, Saklakova; iStock, Still Gravity; iStock, DeanHammel; iStock, BullpenAl; iStock, Goads Agency; iStock, Silvia Moraleja; iStock, EyeEm Mobile GmbH.

---