Sloth Starting MFFYJim Yanik More likely to be counterproductive -- the geezer snaps to attention and stomps on the brake while he looks wildly around to see what the problem is...
Actually, yes you can, and my reasoning is not as irrational as some might think. Anyhow, at some points you can drive 50 MPH through a school zone because sometimes they are mandated in areas where the potential for kids near the roadway (the main overall reason for having school zones I buttume) is next to nothing. Before I explain it any further, all of my evidence is observational and so don't go asking me to site it (though I will give specifics on my first piece upon request) because I can't. Back to the point, my parents live in a suburb of Washington, DC where along the local main road there are a high school, middle school, and elementary school all within close proximity of each other. Because of this, there is a school zone where the speed limit drops from 45 to 25 during school enterance and exit times. All of the schools' enterances are located at least 50 to 100+ feet away from the road. In addition, all students in the elementary school are bussed, all students living on the opposite side of this road from the middle school are also bussed, and only at the high school level are there students living on the opposite side of the road from the high school that do not bussed, and subsequently walk to school. I have lived here since the middle and elementary school opened (before I moved from the area 3 months ago), and not once have I seen an elementary or middle school student try to cross this road to get to school. So tell me why that more than a half hour after the high school has began or dismissed for the day and the groups of people coming to-from the high school has reduced to nothing, should I feel it is unsafe to do 45 mph, let alone 25 mph, in the school zone? The only reason I can think of the school zone existing for such long periods is due to state law since the property lines of all three schools border sections of the road's right of way. A second piece of evidence, there have been mentioned many times here, where in some localities the school zone along a road exists 24-7-365. If one of these roads has a regular speed of 45 to 50 and drops to 25 without the road quality being affected, why should I feel unsafe in driving the speed limit surrounding the school zone on weekends or when clearly school is not in session? Now I understand the reasoning behind school zones, and I understand why we need such things. However, the area of the school zone needs to be set properly, as does the times in which the school zone is the law of the land or school zones will not be respected by drivers when the zones are actually needed. I like how rural jurisdictions in the Eastern Panhandle of WV set the limits of the school zone. Basically, they have the school zone signs, and below the speed limit it says "When Children are Present"
