It is back to school time for the kids and school zone safety is a top priority for the Redmond Police Department. Drivers can expect to see officers enforcing school zone speed laws to promote school zone safety and encourage voluntary compliance.

When I started writing this column at the beginning of the year, I had a short list of important topics that I wanted to address and “school zones” was at the top of my list.

School zone safety is an important topic for me professionally as a traffic officer, because it concerns the safety of our children. It is important to me personally as it concerns the safety of my own children.

Every school in Redmond has at least one marked school zone. The speed limit within each zone is 20 mph. All school zones are marked with signage and some have flashing yellow lights alerting motorists to slow down.

School zones are located at designated school crosswalks and extend 300 feet in either direction from the marked crosswalk. Drivers are required to slow down to 20 mph during the entire six hundred foot zone.

School zones are in effect when children are present or when the school zone lights are flashing. School zone fines are twice the amount of a normal speeding ticket and the fines may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.

The 2010 Legislature also imposed double fines for drivers who fail to stop for a pedestrian or bicyclist within a crosswalk that is marked with school zone signs.

Why is the speed limit set at 20 mph for school zones?

Slower vehicle speeds allow drivers to stop in a shorter distance and the severity of pedestrian injuries is significantly less at lower speeds.

A decrease in vehicle speed of 10 mph can mean the difference between a minor or moderate pedestrian injury vs. a serious pedestrian injury or fatality.It’s also important to consider typical childish behavior when driving through school zones. Young children tend to focus on one thing at a time and act spontaneously, such as running across the roadway without considering the consequences.

According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, younger children have difficulty judging distances and speeds. When a vehicle is coming towards them, they cannot accurately judge how fast it is traveling or how long it will take to cover the distance.

It is important that all drivers observe the 20 mph school zone speed limit throughout the entire 600-foot marked school zone.

Slowing for just the crosswalk is not enough. Drivers who obey the speed limit throughout the entire school zone help to promote school zone safety by reminding and encouraging other drivers to slow down.

Officer Martin Fuller has been with the Redmond Police Department for eight years and has worked specifically in the Traffic Division for the last three. If you have questions for him to address in future columns, e-mail Fuller at trafficguy@redmond.gov.