• By the Advocate Editorial Board
• Originally published November 16, 2009 at 5:18 p.m., updated November 16, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.

• TIPS FROM POLICE CHIEF BRUCE URE

  Using cell phones is against the law in school zones. Texting while driving is crazy enough but texting in a school zone is both illegal and plain reckless.

  Drivers ...

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TIPS FROM POLICE CHIEF BRUCE URE

Using cell phones is against the law in school zones. Texting while driving is crazy enough but texting in a school zone is both illegal and plain reckless.

Drivers must stop for students and pedestrians at crosswalks - it's Texas State Law. Remember pedestrians have the right of way at crosswalks (under normal conditions); motorists must also yield to them when turning. Please stop well before the crosswalk and stay stopped until the crosswalk is no longer occupied, not just until your lane is clear.

Don't take your eyes off the road, especially in school zones. It only takes a second for conditions to change. 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.

We also need to remember the unpredictability of children and be on the lookout for all pedestrians.

Make sure you and your passengers are buckled up properly. Too often, we see parents get their children into a car and take off without securing them in seat belts. Seat belts are your number one defense in a crash.

A split-second mistake or inattention can cause a lifetime of pain for a small child.

You would think speeders through school zones would be drivers who don't have children. But apparently that is not the case in Victoria. We think parents who speed through school zones should know better. After all, parents who care about their children can serve as role models for other parents who become lackadaisical.

Recently, parents of Hopkins Academy students received letters in the mail urging them to observe the speed limit through school zones around the school. Patience is required and should be exercised when dropping off and picking up students.

"There's a reason speed limits are reduced in zones around schools during the high traffic times: children. For motorists to disobey a school zone is literally putting a child's life at risk," said Bob Moore, Victoria school district superintendent.

"The extra 30 to 60 seconds that it might take to get through a school zone going 20 or 25 miles an hour is worth the life of a child," Moore said.

We agree. We think if parents and others make themselves aware of the dangerous possibilities of speeding through a school zone, they would not speed.

"In a perfect world, all children would cross at marked crosswalks and stay on sidewalks. But, children can become distracted and not pay attention to pedestrian rules. Drivers get distracted, too.

"Cars and trucks are much bigger than a kindergarten student. It's a no-brainer. If a car strikes a child at 35 or 40 miles an hour, there is no way that child is not going to get hurt, or worse," Moore said.

We urge drivers to not let a terrible thing happen - to a youngster and to a speeding driver.

Abide by the posted speed limits in school zones.

Be safe.

This editorial reflects the views of the Victoria Advocate's editorial board.

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