Videotaping Worth a Try

Dropping a child off at school these days can feel a lot like a round of bumper cars, but with real-life dangers. Morning after morning, the scene outside many schools across the San Fernando Valley is the same: Double-parked cars clog the street as harried parents dash through traffic to dump the kids safely in class and still make it to work on time. So bad is the congestion and chaos at some schools that Los Angeles Police are considering videotaping drivers near schools and mailing scofflaws tickets.

If the proposal passes legal muster with city lawyers, it’s worth trying as a way to keep streets around schools safe and calm. Inspired by a similar program in Simi Valley, videotaping clumsy, thoughtless or downright dangerous drivers--and then sending them a citation would help remind parents of their precious cargo and others that the rules of the road are all the more important around places where kids congregate.

Too often they are ignored with tragic results. In separate incidents at Chandler Elementary last year, a crossing guard and a 9-year-old student were hurt in traffic accidents. In November, a Grant High School student was killed as she jaywalked. And last month at Shenandoah Street School in Los Angeles, a crossing guard was seriously hurt when she pushed a child out of the way of an oncoming car.

The program would work like this: After police got enough complaints about a particular school, an officer would be dispatched to set up a camera and catch lousy drivers in the act. Then it would be a simple matter of tracing license plates and dropping a citation in the mail, a lot like the automated photo systems that catch speeders or drivers who run red lights. All the regular rules of appealing tickets would apply, but it’s tough to argue with the unbiased lens of a camera.

Ticketing bad drivers on the spot would tie up sworn officers who might be needed elsewhere. But taping them allows police commanders to send unarmed parking officers to campuses. And face it, the morning crush at most schools only lasts 10 or 15 minutes--about the time it takes to write up a single ticket. Cameras allow cops to cast a wide net and catch as many unsafe drivers as possible without delaying parents already running late. Truly unconscionable drivers would no doubt be stopped on the spot.

Despite the Orwellian overtones of police cameras on campus, the idea deserves support as a way to remind drivers that school zones warrant special care, that the elaborate pickup and drop-off procedures many schools have devised exist for a reason. Schools should be safe havens, places where kids feel protected from the dangers of the outside world. Yet that sense of security often is breached as violence and other ills spill onto campus. Parents and other motorists must ensure that their driving does not put children at risk even before they get to school. For drivers who forget, a ticket and a $100 fine should help jog the memory.