OK, so it’s been a long time since my wife and I took our daughter to school (she started graduate school at SMU last week), but I’ll be over at Rufino Mendoza Elementary School to help out with its after-school running club for the 8th year as school sponsor and I wanted to remind motorists to be extra careful now that classes are in session.
I have unfortunately had to represent the parents of children who were struck while walking or riding their bicycles to school over the last 32 years and these can be the worst cases imaginable.
Eighty children were struck by vehicles and had to be treated at Children’s Medical Center Dallas last year. And since 2000, an average of 355 children were killed each year in the U.S. near schools. What horrible statistics.
The Dallas police chief said today that violators can expect to pay a lot of money for breaking laws designed to protect children. Fines for speeding through school zones or using cell phones vary but can cost up to $300.00 or more in some cities in the Metroplex.