Constitutional Corner
By Rockdale
| Slow Down Driving through our School Zones! School zones are put in place to ensure the safety of children in and around schools. While class is in session, drivers are responsible for maintaining safety and awareness on the streets surrounding schools. All children should be able to walk or bike to and from class without fear of being hit by passing vehicles. As drivers, we must not be careless around school zones. We must respect every school zone speed limit and understand the traffic laws for these locations. We must follow them at all times. The school zone speed limit in Rockdale County is 25- 30 mph, unless otherwise posted.
As Rockdale County Sheriff’s School Resource Officers and Crossing Guards continue to make school zones safer for students, the solution is easy to make school zones safer for students. Let’s take a look at the best strategy we can implement to keep the future of education bright! Speed is one of the most frequently cited contributing factors that increase the number of accidents and traffic violations. Following the directions given by the crossing guards and posted safety signage are vital because they serve as a warning sign when vehicles are entering the zone, and slowing down is necessary to protect the school children crossing the street. It can be very scary when drivers don’t abide by the rules in school safety zones. Rockdale County, enough is enough, and our traffic units are ready to enforce those who don’t obey the traffic laws ZERO! That’s how many accidents we want to see this year in our school zones. We’re fortunate to have a traffic unit, Rockdale County Public Schools Officials and others, working together to make this happen. During school zone hours, drivers are supposed to slow down to 25 miles per hour, Corporal Jeff Peek couldn’t believe it when he caught one person going 55 miles per hour. “I was shocked,” Peek said. “I was like, ‘Wow, that actually happened,’ and he was on his cell phone.” “Since the first of the year, we’ve made over 100 traffic stops around the Rockdale County Schools,” Peek said. Deputies will be out at different school zones running laser, radar, and actively slowing people down, plus school crossing guards will be out at schools as well. Rockdale County suggests you drive under the speed limit in those zones. Their overall message is for people to drive safe and remember that it is their job to pay attention in order to prevent accidents. If you’re not paying attention, we’re going to help you pay attention. You know I hate to say that and we don’t like to do that but our job is to keep you safe, your family safe, and our children safe. If you don’t want to take it upon yourself to help us do that, we are just going to give you a friendly reminder. The children, teachers and faculty are a top priority, and we want them to safely complete a great school year, so we’re asking people to slow down because there will be consequences for those who are speeding in our school zones creating an unsafe environment. We don’t want to issue citations but we do want the public to know they need to slow down. |