LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – FOX5 has learned of concerning new numbers from the Clark County School District Police Department on the number of tickets handed out to drivers, and the number of students hit by cars as we get into the third week of class.
Despite their best efforts, CCSDPD officials say kids are still getting hit by cars in school zones.
They hope a larger crossing guard presence, citations and the possibility of landing in court will be enough for drivers to pump the brakes, and they hope parents tell their students to look alive. Take it from Lieutenant Bryan Zink, the Public Information Officer with CCSDPD.
“So far, we’ve had eight reported children hit going to or from school. And again, we haven’t been able to really dive into that to find out who’s at fault. But again, eight is just too many.”
Lieutenant Zink says thankfully, those were all bump and scrape incidents.
He also tells fox5 that number is actually less than this same time last year.
In total, 138 students were hit going to and from school last year.
Another figure to note, 1,200 tickets were handed out to drivers in school zones during the first 10 days of school, according to Zink. That’s something he says is avoidable.
“If you’re already doing the posted speed limit paying attention, you might be able to stop before there’s an accident.”
As for other road safety rules drivers should keep in mind; U-turns are prohibited, and the speed limit a half hour before and after school is 15-miles per hour. But Lieutenant Zink says there’s more to that.
“The speed in the school zones is always dictated by the slowest vehicle. If you’ve got a car doing five miles per hour, that’s the speed limit. If you pass that car, you’re going to get pulled over.”
Zink later explains what can happen to the driver as a consequence.
“A lot of drivers don’t realize that excessive speed and not using your turn signal and passing a school bus, a lot of that can add up to a reckless driving charge,” Zink said.
He adds students and parents should keep things in mind too, when it comes to school zone traffic safety.
“We always encourage parents talk to your kids about making sure that they know that they really need to use the crosswalks,” Zink said. “They need to pay attention when they’re crossing the street. They need to look away from their phone until they get across the street.”
As for those eight students who were hit, we do not know their ages.
That’s important because a disproportionate number of students who got hit last year were middle schoolers.
In response, FOX5 has learned all Clark County Middle Schools will have crossing guards this school year.
Lieutenant Zink says they haven’t had a fatal accident in years, but tells us they had a couple of close calls last year. Something the entire department hopes to avoid.
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