Phones down, drive safe in school zones

EAST TEXAS — Students in ten East Texas school districts are heading back to class on Monday and their safety is top of mind for every parent. according to our news partner KETK, as the back-to-school rush begins, the Lufkin Police Department is reminding drivers to slow down and lookout for young pedestrians.

Sgt. Eddie Ibarra, the Lufkin Police Department’s head of traffic told KETK that “yellow means slow down, it doesn’t mean speed up to beat the red light.”

According to TxDOT, last year there were 781 crashes, 11 of them involving school buses and two people were killed in Texas school zones.

“Lookout for pedestrians, especially since there’s going to be a lot of kids walking to school,” Ibarra said.

Starting this year, there’s also a new state law requiring students to stay off their phones during school hours. After being kept away from their devices all day, officers are now worried students will be more distracted outside by their screens, raising safety concerns for texting while driving or while walking home.

“Whenever they are getting out of class or leaving school, they are going to be so into their phone they are not paying attention. Just another reason for drivers to pay attention for pedestrians,” Lufkin Police Department Corporal Carter Willmon said.

TxDOT said parents should teach their students to always stay alert, never assume a driver sees you and do not text in school parking lots.