SAVANNAH, GA (September 2, 2011): Traffic Officers from Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department wonder how effective their intensive Back-To-School awareness campaign might have been, but they are continuing their drive to curb speeds in school zones.
Lt. Gregory Mitchell, supervisor of the traffic department, said his officers concentrated on school zones last week — opening week for the Savannah Chatham Public School System,as they warned they would, and wrote 475 citations. In total, 344 were for speeding and 131 were for other violations in the school zones.
The speed limit in school zones is 25 with a zero tolerance policy, meaning one mile per hour over the speed limit will bring a citation. Officers have leeway in non-school areas.
“We stress that ‘Twenty is Plenty’ in school zones,” he said. “We are dealing with high concentrations of young people who are not always focused on safety, parents trying to get students to schools and on to work, school buses and citizens driving through the zones. Our enforcement efforts are to keep our students and crossing guards safe.”
Some schools have been closed for this school year and others expanded or added, affecting traffic patterns differently in various neighborhoods. Police will continue to concentrate on school zones.
“Again,” said Mitchell, “we remind motorists to slow down in school zones and look out for pedestrians.”
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