Officers Give Lessons on School Traffic Safety

Friday marks the last day of School Zone Traffic Safety Week, in which law enforcement officers throughout Los Angeles County visit classrooms to teach children about safety around school zones.

Officer Richard Harper of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Traffic Division said 68 public elementary schools in his area are being targeted, with officers instructing children in the classrooms in the hope that they will pass the safety message on to their parents. Among the safety tips:

* Don’t let a child out on the driver’s side.

* Don’t drop a child off across the street from the school and let the child run through traffic.

* Don’t accompany a child through traffic in the middle of the block.

* When picking up a child after school, don’t beckon the child to you from across the street.

Harper estimated that about one-third of parents break these guidelines, inadvertently endangering their children’s safety.

“We live in such a rush today that we don’t stop and think of the consequences until after something happens,” he said. “We’re trying to get parents and children to think ahead.”