Drivers Need To Adjust Driving, Parking As School Year Begins
Hundreds of thousands of fresh faced school children with backpacks slung over their shoulders marched off to school Tuesday morning.
With the start of the school year drivers will need to make some mild, but crucial adjustments in their driving and parking.
Drive More Carefully
First, simply drive more safely. On the way to or from school, kids walking to school will do dumb things. Things like walking against the light, or crossing a street without looking, and generally not paying attention to put them selves inadvertently in danger.
According to the Safekids.org website, most children are not injured in vehicular accidents at intersections but mid-block because drivers cannot see kids who dart into the street from between two parked vehicles. Keep your eyes open.
Remember, Illinois state law compels drivers to stop at all crosswalks–not just at stop signs and traffic lights–when kids or adults are trying to cross the street.
Drive more carefully. Drive a bit more slowly. Especially around schools.
School Zone Speed Limits
Watch out for school zones and adjust your speed accordingly.
The speed limit in a school zone is 20 mph when children are present.
This means drivers must slow down, when school is in session, where signs are posted and if there are kids around.
If no kids are present, the normal speed limit remains in effect. In most cases, the speed limit is 30 mph.
Buses & Crossing Guards
Pay attention to the crossing guards. With school in session, crossing guards have an important duty to get this city’s children who walk to school, to school and home safely each weekday.
Obey the crossing guard. Be patient. You’ll be on the way soon enough.
But also watch out for school buses.
When a bus is stopped and the red stop sign swings out–motorists must STOP!
Children are either loading on to or unloading from the bus. Give them the time to get off safely and onto the sidewalk.
Parking Around Schools
Be careful parking around schools.
Now that school has started, parking restrictions on streets adjacent to schools is now in effect. Parking is usually restricted from 8 AM to 3 PM or from 7 AM until 4 PM and sometimes even longer.
Drivers shouldn’t be surprised if signs restricting parking times get changed to reflect the longer school days that most CPS schools have embraced this year.
This violation carries a hefty $60 fine.
If you’re dropping off your kids at school, make sure you park legally when doing so. Check with the school where, when and how long you can park for when dropping off or picking up your children.
Don’t double park, park in a crosswalk, near a hydrant or in a no parking zone. Be considerate of others.
Traffic Issues
When school is in session, traffic is worse.
If you were getting used to the shorter commutes without the school buses and SUV family shuttle services whisking children to school every day, get ready for more traffic and longer time spent in the car.
Add some extra time for your commute, especially to your morning commute during the school year.
UPDATED: 11:45 PM to correct error in fine fee and hours of school zones.
Geek,
A point if I may….school zones are a No Park/Stand Time Restriction…and that is now a 60.00$ ticket. The fine went up this past January 1st, 2012.
Having said that, revenue went easy on school zones today . We were primarily only ticketing you if you were on a hydrant.
However…we still were checking all vehicles for expired plates and expired city stickers and no/missing front plates….so I know some parents got ticketed while dropping off Sally or Billy today.
And once more….if the vehicle doesn’t have Illinois plates or doesn’t have a city sticker, we don’t consider the vehicle to be a parent transporting a child to school if it is a CPS school zone.
in the city, all this extra traffic is likely only around this week, then another break for the CTU strike
We were ticketed at the beginning of last week for school zone violation in Hyde park — are there different days for schools starting in different localities? If so, is there an official place where we can look these up? We were also puzzled why only our car got ticketed while other cars around us were not penalized.
DoR Employee says:
Having said that, revenue went easy on school zones today . We were primarily only ticketing you if you were on a hydrant.
My comment:
Please don’t. I help kids out of cars in the morning at a drop area. One of the greatest problems are cars that park illegally. It puts kids and volunteers at risk. And some cars also visually obstruct crossing zones. Show NO mercy and ticket anyone in those zones and ticket hard. We are always calling to try to get cars ticketed with very little success. I guess we need meter spaces instead…. then maybe they would actually get tickets…
Will this be enforced like the airport pickup/dropoff curb zones, where a car will be ticketed if they stop for any amount of time at all?
David…the First day of school every year is a “go easy on them” day by ‘suggestion’ from Management. As of tomorrow…it is business as usual..and if you are in a crosswalk, in a tow zone, double parked, parked in RPP without Flashers, or just plain parked STUPID…we are going to be on it.
The normal routine for School zones…..Flashing Lights = Parent dropping off.
No Flashing lights = Ticket.
If the School Zone is 8am – 4:30pm…and there is a vehicle there after the start of the school day (95% of all schools thats 9am) you get ticketed and so sorry you were not on time or futzed around inside chatting with soccer mom friends.
Pete…despite what people say about Revenue PEA’s…we don’t hover in school zones waiting for a car/van/truck to become empty just so we can ticket it. The airports are primarily the baliwick of the CPD and TMA’s….Revenue is not detailed to O Hare and Midway curb areas.
That said….if you need to spend time inside for whatever reason….Find a Darn parking spot that ISN’T in the school zone.
David…
If the parents are being stupid with their vehicles, Bitch to the Principal and Assistant Principal..And to CPS Security
Get them to send out a memo to all parents that state unequivocally that the parents are not to complain to the School Office if they get a ticket for a Tow Zone or a Hydrant or being in a Crosswalk or Double Parking/Standing because they are not supposed to be putting their vehicles in those locations.
Crossing Guards can only help cross students. They can not ticket, and the CPD for some ‘mysterious’ reason doesn’t seem to be willing to show up and enforce those violations during Drop off and pickup times.
For example? There is an 018 District Cop that works Kemper Place and Geneva Place. I’ve watched him attempt to order Parking Enforcement Aides away from the school there because the parents of the students habitually double park and screw up traffic on Geneva. 018 District also has a Cop that does the same thing on Clark street by Francis Parker (PRIVATE School) during the 7am-9am Rush Hour
The thing is that we WANT the CPD to come and write tickets. This is wrigleyville and invariably we have cars that have parked overnight in the middle of the drop area. We call and call and about 1 in 5 times do we get a cop over in time to ticket. The parents who act silly are told to shape up by the volunteers and they do. It’s the non-school people who are the problem.
Thanks for the info DoR,
I forgot about the bump in the fine cost from $50 to $60. Will make that revision.
Tell your ticket writing colleagues (and yourself) thanks for looking the other way today on the first day of school.
How long will it be until all Chicago parking tickets cost $100+? I predict this will happen when the city has its next regularly-scheduled “budget crisis”. Got to raise enough cash to pay off those crony city contractors somehow.
Look on the bright side Pete…
If you are a responsible parker…you’ll never get a ticket from Revenue.
Drew -
I would beg to differ…I have gotten several wrongly written tickets, and even a wrong tow, when I have been legally parked.
Luckily, they have all been dismissed.
Mike…
Email for you