Back to School Road Safety Tips for Drivers

It's the first day back to class for West Fargo Public Schools

WEST FARGO, N.D. — Going back to school isn’t just an exciting time for teachers and students.

“Summer was fun for everybody it appears, but it’s time to be back. Time to learn, time to grow. It’s great to be back in the buildings.”

Todd Pearson is an elementary School Resource Officer for the West Fargo School District.

“I come to each building, currently I have five buildings that I work with, and being around, assisting students, assisting staff, to make sure that they have a safe learning environment as they grow through the system,” Pearson said.

He says that safe learning environment goes well beyond the classrooms, and drivers play a big part in it.

“With school on, we’re going to have a lot more young students moving about on our sidewalks and walkways.”

The biggest things drivers can do to keep themselves and children safe are pretty simple.

“Take the time and slow down. Keep their eyes always moving across the areas in front of them to keep an eye on what things are happening,” he added.

The speed limit in most North Dakota school zones is between 15 and 20 miles per hour.

Officer Pearson says accidents can happen in the blink of an eye.

“These students move very fast, very quick. Things change all the time. When we’re talking about a human that only stands a few feet high, and we’re talking about a big, solid machine that could be moving from anywhere from 15 to 25 miles per hour, usually the car is going to win in those situations, and that’s not what we want to see happen.”

But students also play a huge part in their own safety.

“Whether they’re biking or walking, we want students to use those crosswalks. Most drivers, that’s where they’re going to expect to see somebody accessing the crosswalks or accessing the roads, so that’s the safest areas for those students. Cutting between cars, cutting in between blocks, that’s now that grey area and that’s the areas we want to avoid.”

The City of West Fargo Facebook page posted some more back to school safety reminders.

Here’s a link to that page: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1114655228726342.