August 30, 2021 3:30 a.m.

With students returning to the classroom, the Roseburg Police Department encourages motorists to, “…be extra safe when driving around schools and beyond to help protect school children as they travel to and from school”.

A release said kids may be excited, inattentive or learning a new route. Drivers are asked to be extra cautious when driving in school zones and residential neighborhoods, around school buses, and near playgrounds and parks.

Roseburg Traffic Officer Josh Chavez said, “We stop a lot of drivers for school zone infractions. The common theme is they don’t see the kids. Sometimes they don’t even know they went through a school zone”. Chavez said RPD’s goal is to make sure everyone is safe, “…which includes schoolkids and other pedestrians, as well as drivers”.

Data from the National Safety Council said most children who die in bus-related accidents are just 4 to 7 years old. Those children are hit by the school bus or by a motorist illegally passing a stopped school bus.

The release said it is illegal in Oregon and all other states to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload kids.

Drivers are asked to pay attention to school zones, which are adjacent to schools or crosswalks that have posted neon signs designating the school zone. In school speed zones, the speed limit is 20 miles per hour from the “School Speed Limit 20” sign to the “End School Zone” sign or another posted speed limit sign.

For more information, contact the Roseburg Police Department.