I take exception to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman’s comment on school zone sign definition (“Take it slow or take a $142 fine,” news story, Sept. 14). The standard “when children are present” sign has been in use for years and is approved by the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.”
Jan Jorgensen says that, “it’s pretty hard to define when children are present, because a lot of kids go to school to play after hours or on weekends.” That sounds like a bunch of lawyers getting together to come up with a new way of getting clients. How difficult is it to see that you are driving through a school zone, that there will probably be children in the area somewhere, and that somewhere in the distant past you recall reading something about driving in a reasonable and prudent manner?
It may be true that the best way to get our attention is through the pocketbook, but to impose the 20 mph speed limit seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. is absolute nonsense. Ms. Jorgensen’s comment that if the longer hours are well received by the communities they could be expanded to all schools is frightening. There is no mention of any sort of a study to determine if there is actually a problem at the selected schools which the new limits will correct or if there is any way to evaluate the results to see if there has been any improvement in the safety of the school kids.
I sincerely hope this absurd program will soon end. It is up to us as responsible drivers to police ourselves. Otherwise our bureaucrats will delight in making more new laws or reinterpreting old ones – to their best interests, of course.
Marysville
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