We’ve all seen these signs around school. “25 MPH WHEN CHILDREN ARE PRESENT” But what does that mean? “When children are present”? Does that mean when they are on the sidewalks by the school? When they are behind the fence in the playground? When they are in class and not to be seen?
How many children need to be present? If there is one child walking in front of the school at five in the afternoon, is he a “children”?
In short, the signs seem ambiguous. Can anyone clear this up?
I’ve always assumed that they were meant to be ambiguous. Most schools have all kinds of activities going on at all hours these days. They want to cover regular hours, but also kids arriving early for band practice or staying late for the game.
In my burg, all of the schools have 20mph school zones for a couple of hundred yards radius around the elementary schools. There’s a sign that flashes during school hours to let you know the restriction is in force, and an “End School Zone” sign to let you know you’re out of it.
Of course, I don’t know what it’s like in Go Go California, but all of the residential streets in this provincial backwater are 25mph.
By us in NY, it’s 15MPH…You have no idea how slow 15MPH’s is until you actually do it.
Thankfully, you get to make up for it by rocking along the **Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway **at Mach 2.8 on a good night, right? 
I grew up in Pennsylvania, we always had those nice flashing lights. I don’t see the flashing lights everywhere around New York, but there are reduced speed signs around schools.
Years after I had her, my 4th grade teacher was exiting the school parking lot one day. A kid darted out between parked cars, and she ran him over, killing him instantly. I can only imagine that it wrecked her life.
I crawl near schools. I have ever since that happened. 
Cartooniverse
The signs in California are usually posted in places where the speed limit is normally 35-40 MPH.
“When children are present” means what it says. If there is a child around on the street, slow down. If the child is behind a locked fence, most cops won’t pull you over unless you are way over 25 mph.
But I’ve seen people pulled over for going 30 MPH at pretty much anytime kids are coming or going to school.
And rightfully so.
When I was ~9, I was in the back seat of my mother’s car when she struck a child that had darted out like that. :eek:
Fortunately, the child was mostly OK, thanks to some lightning reflexes on my mother’s part. But it still scared the pants off of me at the time. I looked up at the sound of my mother cursing and the brakes locking, saw a little girl’s head just over the head, then THUD and she was gone.
Needless to say, I tend to creep through the school zones, too.
um, that’s just over the hood. (Preveiw, preview, preview.)
I first saw those school zone signs when I moved out to California, and they did (and still do) make me a little nervous due to the ambiguous nature that you describe, Johnny. Seems like they could really easily be used as revenue traps if the local municipality wanted to. That said, I’ve never heard of it happening.
I slow down to the school zone limit if I see any kid activity near the road, which I think is the intent of the law. Hopefully, this will be enough to keep me out of trouble and, more importantly, keep me from running over anyone.
In Texas, where I grew up, school zones were in effect at specific times of the day, and the signs had flashing lights on them like black455 describes. There, most residential streets were 30 mph. The school zone speed limit was 20.
Also, getting a ticket in said zone means a substantially higher fine and you can’t take a driver safety course to dismiss your ticket. Doesn’t look good to insurance companies.
Are there some places where they leave those lights flashing all the time? Early this fall (one of the first weekends after school started), I attended a rehearsal and wedding in a small town on the fringes of the metro area. The rehearsal was on a Friday evening–about 6 p.m. The road to the town passed by a school. The school had a “25 MPH WHEN CHILDREN ARE PRESENT” sign, with lights flashing. I didn’t see any children present, but the lights were flashing, and I supposed that there could be some after-school activities going on somewhere. However, those lights were still flashing after the rehearsal–I don’t remember exactly what time that was, but it was getting rather dark!
I go to the wedding on Saturday, and, sure enough, lights are still flashing! No children anywhere. What are the lights for in this case?
Probably just to alert people to the sign, since if they’re oblivious enough to go roaring past a school when kids are about, then they’re definitely in the habit of ignoring their surroundings.
Oh, man, I’ve been arguing over this with my dad for years, and here it is in a thread. I guess all things wind up here sooner or later.
He says to go 25 mph every time you pass the school, any time of day or night, any day of the year. I use a little more flexibility, but I don’t go tearing past the place.
I have never seen any flashing lights, but occasionally the police will put up those things by the curb that measure your speed as you drive by them.
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Yes.
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Yes. Playground equipment can go over fences, and children can chase after it.
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I don’t think so, but at the schools where I’ve worked, there is almost never a time when every single child is inside a classroom. Children leave class to use the restroom, run errands, get drinks, go to the library, etc.
Yes. One child, at any time when children might reasonably be expected to be present, counts. Five in the afternoon is a reasonable time for children to be on their way home due to after school activities.
Technically, if you don’t see any children, you should be within the law to go the normal speed limit. However, to err on the side of caution, it is best to go the school zone limit any day and time when children might reasonably be expected to be walking to or from school–say about 6:30am to about 4:30 pm; later if you’re talking about a high school, which will have oodles of students in after school activities.
Also, it depends upon what the laws of your state are regarding school zones. Some states have slower limits in school zones during school hours regardless of what the actual wording of the sign is. Play it safe to protect yourself and the kids.
By the way, most students killed or injured by being hit by an automobile are hit by school buses or parents. The most likely places to be hit are bus stops, cross walks, and parking lots. I routinely go 5mph under the speed limit when I get near the school each morning, just to be safe.
Interestingly, it becomes perceptively terribly fast when you hit an object.
North Carolina has specific blocks of time, approximately two hours on average, twice daily on school days (before opening and after closing of school hours) in which a ten-miles-an-hour-reduced speed within 0.25-0.5 mile of schools is mandated, and the signs give both the school speed limit and the times when it is in effect.
New York does this in some places, and in others simply indicates a “School Speed Limit,” leaving it to the driver to try to figure out when it is in effect.
You are driving 5 MPH under the speed limit with an off duty police officer and a judge who is you neighbor in the car.
You hit and kill a child who was hiding between cars and jumped out with actions and expressions to indicate he was doing it on purpose.
He did not make the right judgement and was too close and was killed by the impact of your car striking him.
The parents sue…
IRL, the verdict will be 95% of the time.
Do not go past school zones. We still have to protect 16-17 year olds because they have not the ability to cross the street in a legal manner or a safe manor.
I recommend taking down all school speed limits around HIGH Schools. If by that age, 13-18, they can’t get across the street safely, they need out of the gene pool anyway… <veg >
IRL, the verdict will be 95% of the time**?**
::preview, preview, preview, :::::::
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Dammit…
The verdict will be what? 95%of the time…
This sign in vague so the police can inforce it in any way and any circumstance they see fit. Better off going slow through these no matter what.