NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas says don't drive distracted, especially while kids are figuring out their new school routine.
"You need to have your your total focus on the road, obviously, with kids walking to school, biking to school, buses out and about," Steward said. "It's essential for drivers to stay focused on the road and be extra cautious. So put your phone down. Don't be looking at your phone while you're heading to take your kids to school or headed into the school zone."
On the way home is when kids really aren't paying attention.
"Nearly one fifth of traffic fatalities of children below the age of 15 or school age pedestrians are killed between the hours of three and four p.m. than any other time of day," Steward said. "So that just reiterates the importance of staying focused, not only that after school period, but also before school."
In addition, slow down in school zones, so that if something does happen, everyone is safer.
"Triple A Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted some research and found that a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling twenty five miles per hour is nearly two thirds less likely to be killed compared to a pedestrian struck by a vehicle going thirty five miles an hour," Steward said. "That 10 mile an hour reduction can can play a huge difference for somebody who happens to be struck by a vehicle."
Give yourself extra time to get where you are going for the first couple of weeks, so that new drivers and parents new to the school buildings can find their way.