It's a school zone people!

[Binky]

In Australia we've had 40 zones put up around all our schools (well at least in NSW) between the hours of 7:30-9:00am, and 2:30-4:30 you MUST travel at 40km/hr. Naturally when this first came into practise most people ignored it/forgot about it and so would just keep going the normal speed limit.

So they put had cops randomly select schools to patrol at. This still didn't work. So now there are flashing signs that will operate in the times we needs to slow down. You CAN'T miss them! There are also speed cameras now that operate in these times to catch those that ignore this rule.

OK so I obviously not wanting to lose my licence slow down to 40 when I have to. But it never cesses to amaze me the amount of people that will SLAM on the breaks, hand on the horn, screaming, swearing and waving arms and fingers about at me for simply abiding by the LAW!

People will FLY past me flipping me the bird, drive up my ass or try and intimidate me and run me off the road. All because of the 40 Zones.

YES people it IS annoying that you can't go 70, but for the love of all that is holy! It's so the KIDS have a SAFE environment to walk around in. They have not fully developed the skill to assess roads, nor the ability to even care about the consequences. This is for THEM. Have some HEART! Don't get shitty because you don't agree with this! GRRRRRRRRRRRR

[blas]

There's a school zone nearby where I live, and the mornings can be quite a PITA because people think the rules don't apply to them, and they whizz right past school busses with their lights on and the stop sign out, they will go flying at normal speeds down the streets where kids are waiting for the bus and possibly playing by the road.....ugh it's bad.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Forty? Forty??

They will eat your liver and bury what's left of your body on the side of the road over here or going forty in a school zone. It's twenty in the school zones, at least where I live.

And going twenty, with the flashing yellow lights, the cops parked all over the sides of the roads, the kids crossing all over the place, there is always without fail some douchewaffle getting all pissed off and riding your ass.

And then turning to drop off their kid.

I wish I were joking. I'd pay money to be joking.

[SuperDan]

RK, I think the OP said 40 km/h, which is pretty close to 20 mph.

[Stormraven]

40 KPH, which converts to roughly 24 mph, IIRC.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, of course! I didn't think about that.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Forty? Forty??

They will eat your liver and bury what's left of your body on the side of the road over here or going forty in a school zone. It's twenty in the school zones, at least where I live.

I have you beat. In Cheeselandialand the speed limit in school zones is 15 mph if there are children present.

And fines double for speeding tickets in school zones, so naturally the cops enforce the fuck out of this.

Nonetheless, with the way people drive around here, I often think our school zone signs should resemble the school zone signs in South Park, with the mother running and dragging her kid behind her.

[EricKei]

One thing I do love is the fact that the block on which I live is within a School Zone, due to it being a block away from one school and three blocks from another (small) one. This means that the limit is 20mph during those times...Thing is, it's a two-way, non-divided residential street (too minor to have lane markings). In this state, this means that the speed limit during non-school times is...20mph. This is posted along the street as well. This fails to stop the soccer moms from doing 40 or 50, cell phones in their ears, kids in the back, etc, school time or no. >_<

[protege]

Most of the residential streets in my borough are only 25mph. School zones are posted at 15mph, but rarely enforced. Most people, including the cops, think that 25mph is slow enough.

However, I've nearly been hit on *many* occasions while backing out of the damn driveway. Usually, the other driver is some stupid soccer mom, who has just dropped off her kids at the school around the corner...and is going well over the speed limit. 9 times out of 10, I'll be halfway out (or even completely out) of the driveway, meaning that the other car slams on the brakes and/or lays on the horn. Usually, I simply return the "Pittsburgh salute" and proceed on my merry way.

Every damn morning! Never mind that the street is a bit narrower because it's one-way, or even that children *walk* along the street to go to school. No, these idiots never consider that, or even that other people will be using the street. They're more concerned about their phone call, the coffee they'll get at Sheetz, or the crack they're going to score in Hazelwood Concerned about everything else other than trying *not* to slam their multi-thousand-pound sledgehammer into another object or person.

In fact, some of you might remember my father's auto accident years ago. He was pulling out of a parallel spot, which happened to be in a school zone. As he was pulling out, some old fool in a 1970s Pontiac drove into the side of his Tempo Impact was so hard, it literally tossed the car 40 feet, blew out the driver's door glass, knocked off both mirrors, and landed my father in the ER. Several people saw his head snap back...and thought he was dead That other driver was never charged, even though it was *proven* that he was doing *70mph* inside a damn school zone Instead, my father got cited for "pulling out into oncoming traffic"

[fireheart]

Binky, you are lucky. In Radelaide, it's 25km/h anytime children are present.

I used to act as a road crossing monitor in the mornings. Dear Dog, the number of people who would start speeding through the crossing in the mornings because they thought the signs didn't apply to them....>.>

Unfortunately, the school's location resulted in a severe lack of parking in the mornings, so I got to ticket plenty of people for parking infractions (namely using the staff carpark, drop n go etc. etc. the point was that they were meant to be "kiss n go" zones.)

[Andara Bledin]

And going twenty, with the flashing yellow lights, the cops parked all over the sides of the roads, the kids crossing all over the place, there is always without fail some douchewaffle getting all pissed off and riding your ass.

And then turning to drop off their kid.

I wish I were joking. I'd pay money to be joking.

The most memorable speedster douchewaffle I had to deal with was a teacher.

I almost called his school to let them know he drove like a raging asshole through the school zone to get to the school, but I forgot.

^-.-^

[CaroPhoenix]

School zones in my neck of the woods is 25 miles per hour. They have the flashing signs. No matter if there are kids around or not, the signs are flashing? You have to go 25!

Because Child Rum rides on a "special needs" school bus, she gets picked up in front of the house. Without fail, there is always a car stopped in front and one in the back of the bus. I'm pretty sure they're giving me "evil eye" looks but I don't care. She needs to be on the bus and it does take a little extra as they have to put the safety vest on her and then buckle her with the seat belt. Such fun.

[Kogarashi]

Most of my city is signed at 25 mph, due to most of the streets being quite narrow (it's an old city). Doesn't stop a large number of people speeding through the streets despite the large number of pedestrian and bicycle traffic, especially around schooltime (I know of several areas with schools where people still race through in their cars). Add to that the number of pedestrians and cyclists who don't bother with crosswalks or traffic signals or looking both ways before crossing a street, as well as random construction/delivery vehicles/landscapers/etc. parked in the driving lane because there's nowhere else to put the truck, and it's a huge mess waiting to happen.

[protege]

Could be worse--the neighborhood I used to work in, was only *15mph.* Mainly because of the narrow streets and cars parked on both sides. Throw in the houses literally next to the street, and it's no wonder why. Didn't stop several idiots from using the neighborhood as a speedway when Route 28 was being "worked on" awhile back. The cops had a field day with those idiots.

[ADoyle90815]

In my area, school zones are 25mph and only when children are present, so most of the time, the speed is whatever the regular posted limit is. The exception is if the school is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, as the limit is always 25mph. There's a freeway offramp at one end of my neighborhood, and the cops have a field day when they set up speed traps because people continue at freeway speeds until they reach the light at the major street that the exit is named for.