Deputies outside schools to make sure drivers obey school zones
School is starting for many eastern Idaho students, and with that comes a lot more drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists around school zones. In these next couple of weeks, you might also start seeing more deputies and officers around schools.
It is all part of a Mobilization Grant from the Idaho Office of Highway Safety that many agencies around the state are taking part to target distracted drivers in and around school zones.
“A lot of it is because of the summer time has gone by,” said Sergeant Bryan Lovell, of the Bonneville County Sheriff’s office. “People get used to not seeing those school zones in operation, or the lights or those time zones in effect.”
Not only to mention the extra traffic, school buses and kids walking and biking on sidewalks.
Through the beginning of September, the sheriff’s office will have extra deputies on the street watching for violations and distracted driving around our schools.
This includes subdivisions, neighborhoods, and county roads around school campuses in Bonneville County.
“We all like to be seen and try to do some enforcement in those areas and remind and educate people the importance of obeying the speed limits in the school zones,” said Lovell.
If you’re caught speeding on a main road, it is a $90 fine. Caught going 16 mph or higher over the speed limit? That’s $155.
If you’re caught speeding in a school zone that automatically increases the fine to $156.50.
“The reason those school zones are there is for the safety of our kids,” Lovell said. “It’s a concentrated area where you’ve got a lot of kids, students, parents dropping off kids, picking up kids.”
If you’re someone that lives or travels in one of these schools zones, the time that these school zones vary.
According to the sheriff’s office, there are zones that have lights that go on and off when time is in place. There are some that have a posted sign under the speed limit, that gives times of the day when the speed limit is in effect.
The sheriff’s office says they will continue to work with schools, road and bridge, and the city to mark and improve school zones and traffic flow areas around the school so that students and drivers flow as efficiently and safely as possible.
There are many areas still under construction, as well as new schools and bus routes this year that may cause more traffic to divert to areas near schools. The sheriff’s office urges all drivers to take the time to safely navigate these areas and obey all traffic control devices and speed limits wherever you go.
The sheriff’s office urges parents to educate their children who walk or ride a bicycle to a school about watching for traffic, using the sidewalks and crosswalks and crossing guards and obeying the rules of the road for bikes and pedestrians.
