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Show Law enforcement ready for school Chief Higgins of the Bountiful Police Department wants motorists to be aware of the traffic problems that arise with the starting of school. Higgins' first concern is for the safety of the young elementary school students who walk to school. With the excitement of returning to school, many youngsters forget what they have learned about pedestrian safety. It's up to the motorist to drive defensively and watch for youngsters who may dart out in the street or cross a street at inappropriate locations or times. - Streets will be marked and school zone speed signs in place as reminders to the motorists to slow down for our children. Crossing guards are trained and do all they can do to help children arrive safely at school. All of these efforts are of no value if the drivers elect to ignore them. Drivers who fail to adhere to the 20 mph school zone or fail to yield the right of way to students who are legally crossing the street will be cited. Speeding is only one of many concerns. In the past motorists have failed to yield the right of way to students in crosswalks and on several occasions crossing guards were present. One contributing factor was the fact that during the early morning hours eastbound motorists can eas- G ily be blinded by the rising sun, es- 11 pecially if windows are dirty and their eyes are not shaded with sun 1 glasses or visors. In addition to young people walking walk-ing to and from school, there are also those who ride bicycles. Though there are ongoing classes in school on pedestrian and bicycle safety, many students are too young to know and relate with the traffic rules and regulations as they apply to bike riding. Chief Higgins would like to encourage en-courage parents to remind their ' ' children of traffic laws while riding bicycles to and from school. This means that they ride with traffic, stop at stop signs, ride single file and do not get out in traffic lanes and impede the flow of motorized traffic. As for the younger elementary age bike riders, parents need to encourage en-courage them to ride on the sidewalks to ensure their safety. The younger bike riders must remember, re-member, however, that they must stop or yield to pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks. According to Chief Higgins, it is the desire of the Bountiful Police Department to see that children get to and from school safely. This goal, however, cannot be accomplished ac-complished without the support of the children, parents, motorists and law enforcement working together. |