PROGRAMS

School Zone Safety

Programs

The WTSC has many continuing programs throughout the state to make school zones safer and reduce injuries and deaths.

Law Enforcement Partnerships: It's a good idea to maintain a friendly relationship with your local law enforcement agency. Many agencies in Washington State practice community policing; assigning the same officer to answer all the calls from your school. Sometimes this officer is assigned to five or six area schools to provide training or handle enforcement issues. Getting to know the officer assigned to your school is as easy as making a phone call. Ask this officer to train your safety patrol members, both adult and students. An officer can help design a training program that is just right for your specific site. They can clarify what would make an adequate gap in traffic at each specific crosswalk.

Engineering Improvements: Often engineering improvements to the roads surrounding your school can prevent problem driver behaviors. If drivers park too close to crosswalks (or on them), the city or county traffic engineer can take steps to correct the behavior such as "no parking" signs and yellow curb painting. If drivers travel too fast, narrowing the traffic lanes causes them to go slower. Traffic lights can create safe crossings when natural gaps in traffic do not occur. The new fluorescent yellow-green school zone signs can draw extra attention to the crosswalks and are easier to see in bad weather or times of darkness. School Zone signs that can be placed in the center of the crosswalk lines during crossing times can also increase driver awareness. These new standing signs are about 3 feet high and can be dropped into a holder that is permanently fixed to the street at the junction of the centerline and the crosswalk lines.

If your school zone is experiencing problems, it is a good idea to meet with your traffic engineer. Perhaps include the traffic engineer whenever you have a law enforcement officer out to observe problem driving behaviors. The engineer will bring a different perspective to the problem.

When it is decided that engineering improvements are needed, be sure to call either your city council member, your county commissioner, or your state representative (depending on whether the street in question is city, county, or state property) to gain their support in the process. Having support at this level will help the project gain the visibility it needs to get funded and completed in a timely manner.

The City of Bellevue's School Crosswalk Enhancement Project provides an example of how engineering improvements can change driver behaviors. In a two-year project, the city worked with schools to identify traffic concerns. The first year of the project focused on changing driver behaviors through education programs, enforcement activity, signing, and pavement marking. In the second year, physical engineering improvements were installed if the problem behaviors had not improved. At Somerset Elementary and Bennett Elementary the city installed raised crosswalks, curb extensions, and bollards. At both schools there was a history of drivers speeding through the school zone and parking on or near the crosswalks. The raised crosswalk acts like a gentle, smooth speed bump to reduce vehicle speeds and to make students more visible as they cross. Curb extensions, or curb bulbs, bring a semicircle of sidewalk out into the crosswalk. This shortens the pedestrians' crossing distance and eliminates parking on or near the crosswalk providing an unobstructed view for the pedestrians. The bollards (three foot posts) are positioned back from the edge of the curb extensions to keep pedestrians a safe distance back from the road. Plaques were installed on the bollards with tips on how to safely cross the street. These physical engineering improvements reduced average speed through the school zone and eliminated parking near the crosswalks.

Parking Lot Safety: At Margaret McKenny Elementary in Olympia, the principal and the school's PTA designed a pickup/drop-off system that allows children to load vehicles from the sidewalk only. They even have adults on hand to help load kids into or out of car and booster seats. At Somerset Elementary in Bellevue, the principal has counted 300 cars coming to pick up kids in the afternoon. He uses safety patrol members to help students navigate the crosswalks within the lot. At Cascade Elementary in Marysville adults walk with the over 100 kids that walk to school, encouraging walking and discouraging parents' need to drive their kids.

Are long walking distances to bus stops encouraging parents to drive? Revisit your route plan or ask the school district transportation to adjust their bus routes. Bring in help. Ask a law enforcement officer and the traffic engineer to observe drop-off and pickup times. Perhaps they can suggest alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions & Safety Tips

Driving in the School Zone: Slow down-you're free to drive even slower than 20 m.p.h. and should when conditions warrant it such as times of poor visibility due to heavy rain, blowing snow, icy roads, fog, or darkness; or when there is heavy traffic or lots of activity on the road side such as groups of kids or parked cars letting off passengers.

Use caution. Avoid making u-turns within the school zone markings. Don't turn around in the neighboring resident's driveways. It's hard enough to see children-even harder when you're making u-turns or backing up.

At the Crosswalk: The safety patrol members guarding the crosswalk are there to direct the students, not the traffic. It is a driver's responsibility to stop to allow pedestrians to cross in a crosswalk. Please stop well before the crosswalk and stay stopped until the crosswalk is no longer occupied, not just until your lane is clear. You may not turn left or right through an occupied crosswalk. Do not overtake or pass a car that is stopped in front of a crosswalk, even if it is signaling that it is turning right. When you're turning, don't wait inside the crosswalk.

Children on Wheels: If your children ride a bike, scooter or skateboard to school remind them that they must walk the bike or scooter or carry the skateboard across the crosswalk. If they roller skate or rollerblade to school, they must remove the skate or blades and walk across the crosswalk, as well.

Stopping Within a School Zone: Never stop or park your car in the crosswalk or within 20 feet of the crosswalk. Students and other pedestrians rely on the crosswalk and need the visibility that the 20-foot buffer provides to cross safely.

If you park on the side of the road, always have your child exit the car on the side away from traffic. Don't park so that your child dashes across the street to get to the school. Always have your child use the designated crosswalk. Remind your child to follow the safety patrol's instructions.

Stuck Behind a School Bus? It always seems to happen when we're in a hurry, but remember you must come to a full stop when the bus is loading or unloading children whether you are behind the bus or approaching it from the opposite direction. The bus driver activates a warning signal, usually flashing lights and a "stop" sign, to let you know when you must stop. The warning stays active until all the children are either safely loaded on the bus or have safely crossed the street. It is important that you stay stopped until the school bus starts moving again.

School Rules: All school zones are unique. Sometimes schools develop additional policies specific to their concerns. For the children's safety, some schools develop traffic flow patterns, limit drop off and pick up sites, or develop other procedures. For these rules to work to protect the children everyone must follow the rules every time. Make sure anyone else who picks up or drops off your child is aware of the school's policies. Share this flyer with them as well as any other school policy notices.

Children Are Not Adults: Young children see and hear differently than adults. Children have only two-thirds of the peripheral vision that adults have and they have difficulty determining the source of a sound. They are still learning to judge distances and speeds. When a car is coming towards them, they cannot judge accurately how fast it is traveling or how long it will take to cover the distance. Children focus on one thing at a time. If they are playing with friends or riding bikes it is unlikely that they are aware of your car. Children are spontaneous and have trouble stopping an action once started. Children also tend to overestimate their abilities, thinking that they can run across a street before the flashing light changes or a car approaches.