Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New school zone signs posted

Drivers to be required to look around for children

New school zone signs

Cydney Cappello

Metro police revealed new speed zone signs with the attached “When Children are Present” Wednesday. These signs have already been implemented in Florida, Michigan and Washington.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department unveiled new signs today outside the Las Vegas Junior Academy designed to get motorist to pay more attention when they're driving through school zones.

Capt. Richard Collins, the traffic bureau commander for Metro, said officers have been working with city engineers and the school district to get the new “When Children are Present” signs attached to the current speed limit signs.

"There are studies that have been done in several different states that these signs are more effective and safer for the kids," Collins said. “The reason is that when people don’t have a specific time or flashing lights to tell them they have to slow down, they have to use their own powers of observation."

Adding "When Children are Present" to the existing signs forces drivers to take notice and look around for children, he said. The new signs, which are already being used in Florida, Michigan and Washington, do not change the current laws against speeding in school zones. Some schools, depending on traffic of the roadway and the type of school, have 15 to 20 mph speed limits and enforcement is allotted for a half hour before school starts and again a half hour after school ends.

“What I recommend is if they don’t know what time (school) starts, if they see kids on the sidewalks or crossing in the roadways because they’re coming to and from school, they should do whatever the slowest speed sign is,” he said. “And if kids are on a playground or behind a fence, it is not mandatory to slow down to the slowest sign.”

The new signs do not cover Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. Penalties for speeding in a school zone are double; according to state law the maximum penalty is $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy