St. George police remind drivers of school zone laws

ST. GEORGE — Just remember, if anyone is in the crosswalk, nobody can drive through.

Schools in Washington County have started up again, and that means little pedestrians are walking to school again. St. George police and crossing guards say they have seen several instances of drivers breaking the law at crosswalks and want to remind drivers the safe way to drive in school zones.

The most common mistake police said they see at school crosswalks is drivers waiting for the kids to cross, but then driving through while the crossing guard is still in the middle of the road. “If there’s anybody in [the crosswalk], from side to side, no vehicles are allowed to go through,” said Tyrell Bangerter, Administrative Services Sergeant for the St. George Police Department.

It is also against the law to pass or move around a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk.

Sgt. Bangerter also says to keep an eye out for reduced-speed school zones. They are indicated by flashing lights and signs for a 20 mile-per-hour speed limit. “You need to be at or below 20 miles an hour and maintain that all the way through the school zone,” said Bangerter.

Bangerter also says to watch out for traffic cones, which he said are coincidentally about the same height as many elementary school students. “We have a lot of our cones hit by drivers,” said Bangerter. “You need to understand where the edges of your vehicle are.” Police could issue you a citation if you hit a cone with your vehicle.

Adrianne, a crossing guard for Legacy Elementary, said she was almost hit by a driver who was not paying attention. Adrianne was walking across the crosswalk with her stop sign paddle raised, when a driver barely noticed her in time and came screeching to a halt.

“You have to pay attention now that school’s back in,” said Adrianne. “It doesn’t matter if the time’s running out, you just have to wait and be patient.”