ST. GEORGE — Next week marks a return to school for thousands of students across Washington County, and with them, the need for pedestrians and motorists to pay attention to the road.

Public schools are back in session this Tuesday and that means a return to potentially having to stop at least twice a day at crosswalks, paying closer attention around school zones, being safe around buses and maintaining heightened alertness during the week.

“What drivers need to know right now is that the first week of school, we have the early morning where kids use the crosswalk (and) the normal afternoon, but for the very first week we’re also going to be doing the crosswalk for the kindergarten kids at noon,” St. George Police Sgt. Jeremy Needles said. “So there’s going to be three crossings a day for that very first week.”

With the start of school still a few days away, St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell recommended that motorists take the time to see where the school crosswalks are in their area and along their regular commute.

“If you don’t want to be inconvenienced by them, you can avoid them or at least be aware of them so when kids are crossing you are aware of where they are,” she said.

Also providing back-to-school safety tips for drivers and students is the National Safety Council.

The following tips for drivers on “sharing the road with young pedestrians” comes from the council website:

• Don’t block the crosswalk when stopped at a red light or waiting to make a turn, forcing pedestrians to go around you; this could put them in the path of moving traffic.
• In a school zone when flashers are blinking, stop and yield to pedestrians crossing the crosswalk or intersection.
• Always stop for a school patrol officer or crossing guard holding up a stop sign.
• Take extra care to look for children in school zones, near playgrounds and parks, and in all residential areas.
• Don’t honk or rev your engine to scare a pedestrian, even if you have the right of way.
• Never pass a vehicle stopped for pedestrians.
• Always use extreme caution to avoid striking pedestrians wherever they may be, no matter who has the right of way.

“Kids are young. They are not going to pay attention no matter how much their parents tell them to look both ways,” Needles said. “Pay really close attention to where the kids are.”

Crosswalks and the immediate area around school zones are not the only places to watch out for kids heading to and from school, Needles added. Drivers also need to be mindful that many students walking to school come from homes that are several blocks away.

Motorists – whether they are parents taking children to school or picking them up, or those simply passing through – need to remember to share the road with school buses and kids on their bikes.

Under state law, when a school bus stops, turns on the red lights and extends the arm with the stop sign, traffic in both directions must stop so students can get on and off the bus from either side of the street without fear of getting run over.

A driver who gets impatient and passes by the bus has the possibility of hitting a student crossing the street.

Due to drivers passing by stopped buses, the Utah Legislature hiked the penalty for offenders back in 2020.

As for cyclists, they have many of the same rights and responsibilities for the road that motorists do, yet can be hard to see – particularly when on the smaller side as younger children can be. According to the National Safety Council, children on bikes can create additional hazards for drivers as they usually “are not able to properly determine traffic conditions.”

The most common cause of a collision between a vehicle and a cyclist is the driver turning left in front of them, according to the council website.

Additional safety tips for drivers, pedestrians and how to be safe around buses and cyclists can be found at this link. Specifics on what to do around school crosswalks were also previously covered by St. George News.

Mitchell said parents need to continually remind their kids to be safe and look both ways before crossing the road – and to cross it at the proper place. This includes a crosswalk or street corner, she said. Kids on their bikes may also need to be reminded that stop signs apply to them just as much as they do to regular traffic.

“Just be focused on the road,” Mitchell said.

The new school year starts Tuesday, Aug. 15, with classes at Utah Tech University set to begin Monday, Aug 21.

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