By late September, students and parents have settled back into their school-year routines. Morning drop-offs, afternoon pickups, school buses, crossing guards, bicyclists, and children walking home once again become part of everyday traffic throughout Ontario and the Inland Empire, which makes California school zone safety a daily habit rather than a first-week-of-term reminder.
We covered the full picture of school zone risk earlier this month in School Zone Safety in California. This is the short version, the five things worth remembering every single time you drive past a campus.
The Five Reminders
- Slow down to the posted school zone limit and be ready to stop.
- Watch for crossing guards and follow their directions, including when they contradict the flow of traffic.
- Yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks alike.
- Put the phone down before you reach the zone, not once you are already in it.
- Stop for a school bus showing flashing red lights and an extended stop arm, and stay stopped until both are withdrawn.
Slow Down and Expect the Unexpected
Children do not always behave predictably around traffic.
A child may step into a crosswalk unexpectedly, move between parked vehicles, or become distracted while walking with friends. Pedestrian accidents involving children are among the most preventable collisions on the road and among the most severe.
Drivers should therefore approach school areas with additional caution and be prepared to stop.
Reducing speed gives motorists more time to observe what is happening and respond when circumstances change.
Put Away the Phone
School zones are not the place to answer a text, search for a song, check social media, or become distracted by navigation.
Your attention should remain on the roadway.
Drivers should also look for crossing guards and follow their directions. When pedestrians are crossing, give them the time and space needed to reach the other side safely.
School buses require attention as well. Motorists should understand and follow applicable stopping requirements when buses are loading or unloading students.
What the Vehicle Code Actually Requires
Three sections come up most often around a campus, and none of them is complicated.
California Vehicle Code section 22352 sets a 25 mile per hour prima facie speed limit when approaching or passing a school while children are going to or from school, unless a different limit is posted. Prima facie means it is the presumed safe speed, and a lower speed can still be required when conditions call for it.
Section 22454 covers school buses. When a bus displays flashing red lights and an extended stop-signal arm, traffic in both directions must stop and remain stopped until the lights stop flashing and the arm retracts. The exception is a divided highway, where traffic moving the opposite direction is separated from the bus.
Section 21950 requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in a marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, which describes most of the crossings around a school.
One point drivers get wrong often enough to be worth stating: a crossing guard directing traffic is to be obeyed even where the instruction runs against a signal or the normal flow. The guard can see the child behind the parked SUV. You cannot.
California School Zone Safety Is a Shared Responsibility
Parents can reinforce safe habits with children, but drivers carry an important responsibility because they are operating vehicles around vulnerable pedestrians.
At Khashan Law Firm, we encourage drivers throughout Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, the Inland Empire, and California to treat every school zone as an area requiring additional patience and attention.
No appointment, meeting, or destination is worth risking a child’s safety.
A few extra seconds of patience can prevent a lifetime of consequences.
If you or your child has been injured because of a negligent driver, contact Khashan Law Firm for a FREE consultation. We proudly serve Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, the Inland Empire, and communities throughout California. Hablamos EspaƱol.