Yup, School Is In Session

For the last couple of weeks the CV Weekly has warned readers that school was back in session – meaning traffic, especially around local schools, was on the rise. I saw this firsthand when I had the occasion to head over to Crescenta Valley High School right when school started. 

Man, there were a lot of cars! I was warned (but didn’t pay attention) that some drivers were not cautious at all when driving; in fact, while I was there I saw one make a U-turn right in front of the No U-turn sign in front of the school, cutting off traffic heading east and west on Community Avenue. I only wished I could’ve grabbed my camera faster. 

It really galls me to think that these people – who are probably pretty good, nice people – don’t think twice when it comes to driving near children. Because that’s who these students are: children.

Can you imagine how they’d feel if they hit or (God forbid) killed a child? All for the sake of making a U-turn, running a red light or some other reason to get to work faster. 

I remember a couple of years ago a rescue helicopter had to land at the rear field of Rosemont Middle School because a child had been hit. (Thankfully, the child turned out to be okay.) But how scary is that? For more horror stories, talk to Mary O’Keefe – just about every school year she goes out with officers with the California Highway Patrol to record the driving habits of people near schools.

Then there are people who drive erratically regardless of the time. For example, on Wednesday morning of this week I heard from my neighbor that apparently there was an accident at the corner near our houses. It happened around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night; that was probably 30 minutes after I went to bed. He said he was up but didn’t hear a thing. He only realized something happened when he took his dog for a walk in the morning and tried to move a cone in the street, assuming that the water company was going to work on the area. But the cone wouldn’t move – it was seemingly glued to the spot! Talking to fellow neighbors (who weren’t in bed as early as I) he learned about the accident. Apparently a driver was heading up our street (which is in a residential area) and slammed into a light pole (the cone was sitting at the location where the light pole had stood). S/he sheared off the pole and was injured to the point where an ambulance had to be called. 

Scary to hear – and not even near school time.

I guess crazy driving doesn’t adhere to a time.