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Editorial: Slow down in school zones, it won’t kill you

What possesses people to speed through a school zone?
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It’s not a new problem, but it’s not one that seems to be going away, either.

With schools now back up and running for fall, the requirements are back for people to slow down as they drive through school zones. But in at least two spots in the Cowichan Valley (and, we suspect many others as well) too many people aren’t following the rules.

What possesses people to speed through a school zone? Occasionally, it’s done without thought. Someone misses seeing the sign, there aren’t other cars on the road to force them to slow down through the zone, and so the 30 km/h is more like 50 or 60 km/h. All too often, though, people just don’t feel like they need to, or want to take the time to slow down. They’re in a hurry. It’s 10 a.m. and they don’t see anyone on the road or the sidewalk or at the crosswalks. It’s not really a big deal. They speed everywhere else anyway, why should this zone be different? Changing speed is just annoying.

Some of the worst offenders can be parents who drop their kids off at school, then peel out of parking lot or from the side of the road and speed away. Their kid is safe, and they figure their parenthood has conferred some kind of immunity on them.

Any and all of the excuses really aren’t good enough.

School zones exist for very good reason. Certainly they exist for better reasons than you’ve come up with for ignoring them. They’re there to save lives. They’re there to save the lives of children. We like to think that most children are taught road safety, like stopping before crossing the street and looking both ways. But they’re kids, and sometimes they don’t remember. Maybe they’re distracted by their friends or a parent or they drop something that rolls into the street and they step out from between parked cars, or dart out into the crosswalk. If you’re going the proper speed, you have a far better chance of stopping for that child. And if you hit them, and you’re going the proper speed, injuries are likely to be far less severe.

So take a few extra seconds and slow down. It really won’t kill you. If you don’t, it might kill someone else.