Saratoga News

Letters & Opinions

There's no pass, so slow down in school zones

Where is it that people go to get one of those "Drive as Fast as I Want Through a School Zone" pass? It must exist--something like the "Get Out of Jail Free" card in a Monopoly game--because we see motorists ignoring the 25 mph speed limit in the school zones in the city every day.

Motorists will exceed the posted limit as, even though we all learn from the day that we take our first driver's test that we are required to slow to 25 mph in front of a school.

So when exactly was it determined that the speed limit signs in front of schools were simply ornamental? The signs are there for a reason--to make motorists aware that there are children present, so slow down!

It's frustrating to see the many drivers who ignore the signage and speed through the stretch of roadway in front of the local schools, but what is most distressing is to see that many of the drivers are 30- and 40-somethings driving family-sized SUVs and minivans. We wonder where their children are while they're ignoring the signage in that stretch of the roadway.

It's time for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department to begin cracking down and ticketing drivers who ignore the speed limit in school zones. What's more, the names of those ticketed for those speeding violations should be posted at the school sites for all to see.

Drivers need to slow down on the roadways near the schools in the city to keep our children safe. It can't add more than a minute or so of travel time to do the right thing and cut the speed to 25 mph.

There's really no such thing as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card--it's just part of a board game. And there's really no "Drive as Fast as I Want Through a School Zone" pass either, so it's about time the sheriff's department let people know it.