On Monday, Lakeland residents will see a familiar sight - school buses on the road, traffic congestion at schools, and school children. The first day of school is an especially dangerous time for students and drivers. Children going to new schools for the first time may be unfamiliar with streets and street crossings. Parents dropping off their children may be distracted or confused looking for drop off locations and school access routing signs. Motorists that have been traveling the roads all summer now suddenly have school buses stopping and children in crosswalks.
Let us not forget that we also have college students parking, walking the campuses, and often crossing the roadways. This year we are extending the focus of schools to include college students. Florida Southern College has a pedestrian crosswalk on South Ingraham Avenue near Lake Hollingsworth that is marked by flashing lights. Southeastern College has crosswalks on Longfellow Blvd for students walking from parking lots to the campus.
It was brought to my attention that students often develop a sense of false security because of the flashing lights at pedestrian crossings near schools. We need to make sure that the students realize that flashing yellow lights are not stop lights. Motorists are required to stop at any crosswalk for pedestrians in the crosswalk, but not when pedestrians are preparing to cross. The flashing yellow lights are caution lights that are meant to make everyone aware that there may be students in the area. We want to make sure that students realize this and do not step in front of oncoming traffic.
On the other hand, motorists need to use extreme caution at these crosswalks and be prepared for the distracted student that is trying to navigate the campus to a new class location.
In addition to this, Lakeland Police will be dedicating resources to local school sites as the new school year begins to assist with traffic control and enforcement of traffic control devices with the goal of a safe and smooth beginning of the 2010 school year.
We need to all work together - police, school administrators, students, teachers, and the community to keep our students safe as they begin their new 2010 school year - as well as all year around.
Posted by Sergeant Terri Smith
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