AN
OPINION:
As a general rule, I don’t have much use for speed limits. I’m a regular person
who tends to drive about five to seven miles over the posted speed limit at all
times. If I’m on the highway late at night and there’s no traffic; I will be
going 70, maybe even 75 miles per hour. So don’t think I’m some sort of
obsessive traffic-rule-follower.
However, there are exceptions. The main one being the short stretches of road that run past our schools. They are posted at 15 or 20 miles per hour and I ALWAYS SLOW DOWN.
What I don’t understand is that the people behind me then climb up my tail pipe, beep their horns, make obscene gestures, pass me on the right (the shoulder) and even cross the double yellow line into oncoming traffic to get around me. We’re talking about a block or two folks. Where could you possibly be going that would be worth running over a kid to get to?
I have driven in
High school students operate with their heads in the clouds
– they are talking to their friends, thinking about an upcoming test or
sporting event, watching that attractive girl or boy walk away – they are not
thinking about crossing the street. We all know this. Some of us even remember
it from our own youths. Why can’t more people acknowledge it by just slowing
down as they drive past?
And middle school children are no better at looking where
they’re going. They are just as distracted as their high school counterparts,
and considerably shorter and harder to see darting out between parked cars.
Elementary school children have crossing guards. Those hard
working, overlooked, abused and ignored individuals
tell horror stories of near misses involving the kids and themselves, shouted
obscenities and rude hand gestures – all suffered for the crime of trying to
get our smallest students across the street in one piece.
I am not letting kids off the hook here, they should look where they are going. Nor am I suggesting that our children are not smart enough or responsible enough to look both ways before they cross the street. I am just addressing the reality of missed balls, dropped notebooks, and other distractions. It is the one behind the wheel who is ultimately accountable.
If you’re late for work, or the hairdresser, or a doctor’s appointment, or to see your sweetheart, then I’m sorry. Perhaps you should have left earlier. Maybe you tried. Things happen; tires go flat, the phone rings as you’re walking out the door, the kids can’t find their lunch boxes, whatever. We understand, it happens to all of us. (You’d be surprised at how many of those trunk-climbers are driving cars with children in them – is it OK to speed through a school zone as long as YOUR children are safely inside your car? Is that the secret?)
Think about it. How much time are you really saving by maintaining a speed of 30 or 35 mph for the short trip past the school? A minute? A minute and a half? And how much time will you save if you hit someone and have to be delayed by the police and ambulance and all that paperwork…
So you’re going to be late, call someone and let them know, (more cars have cell phones than not). Then relax and get there safely. Slow down to the posted limit when passing a school – even if your kids don’t go there, someone’s kids do. And they all deserve to get to school and home in one piece. And when you see taillights in front of you and don’t know why, look out the window to see if you’re passing a school. Then get off my tail and relax, it’s only a few hundred yards and then I’ll be zipping along with everyone else.