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Show Law is same for school safety: Slow for luds; stop for buses By GARY R. BLODGETT The law regarding passing school buses and driving through a school safety zone is the same throughout Davis County, according to a Davis County Sheriff's Department spokesperson. Capt. K.D. Simpson, commander comman-der of the department's traffic division, divi-sion, said law enforcement officers throughout the county "begin to worry when the youngsters return to school." "We worry about their safety because be-cause they have been playing at home all summer and suddenly it's time to go back to school. Their carefree attitude sometimes results in their not observing safety rules as well as they should." At the same time, he noted, motorists are not as careful as they should be and sometimes pass a stopped school bus or illegally speed through a school cross walk. "But the laws which govern traffic traf-fic safety in relation to schools are few and easy to understand," he said. "The main trouble is that too many motorists ignore the laws because be-cause of preoccupation or apathy." There are two major laws which protect the school children one is governing the speed of vehicles in a designated school zone, and the other involves passing school buses that are loading and unloading students. stu-dents. The State Statute limits the speed of a vehicle in a marked school zone or at a designated crossing to 20 miles per hour. "This speed is the same everywhere and should be observed by motorists wherever they might be," said Capt. Simpson. The law governing passing a school bus specifies that a school bus shall not be passed in either direction while the bus lights are flashing indicating that students are being loaded and unloaded. This law does not pertain to major highways which are four lanes wide and separated by a double-line or divider. "These two laws are consistent throughout the state and are being strictly enforced by all city, county and state law enforcement agencies in Davis County," said Capt. Simpson. He added that despite the annual crackdown by law enforcement officers, there seems to be a child seriously injured or killed each year due to some inattentive driver. "Let's all be safe, not sorry, by observing these and other traffic safety laws, especially around our schools," he concluded. |