Signs, signs
Dear whoever blasted by me in a large SUV on Sunday as I walked down a clearly designated walking/biking path ... I am rightly sorry for whatever emergency you must have been experiencing.
This mild irritation is a good reminder, though: pay attention to signs. I don't mean to grump about when it's already Monday, but what happened on Sunday is not the first time I have witnessed people driving down the path like it is a road. It could become a thoroughfare in the future, but right now? It's not. Clearly, some folks either don't read signs, or just decide to ignore them.
That's speed limit signs — ask the Colorado State Patrol if it "matters" if these are followed. Speed kills. In fact, the CSP last year responded to 500 fatal or injury crashes linked to speed. And speeding doesn't necessarily even get you to where you're going that much faster.
That's also school zone signs — and it's almost that time of year again. Pay close attention near schools and crosswalks. On Aug. 12, a new state law takes effect, too, The Liam Stewart School Zone Act. The act is named for Liam Stewart of Littleton who died after he was struck while biking to his middle school.
As described by the General Assembly, it sets roadway signage requirements around schools to strengthen road safety for students and road users. The law will define school zones as all roadways within at least 1,000 feet of a school boundary, and require these roadways to have signage indicating the 1,000-foot school zone boundary and that driving penalties are doubled in this area. Existing school zones between 200 and 1,000 feet from the school may keep their current school zone boundaries, but must follow the law’s process for modifying these boundaries.
Other provisions require local governments that want to reduce the size of a school zone to first hold a public hearing. Jurisdictions can also expand school zones. They may designate streets adjacent to schools as “school streets,” and may close the school street to vehicles and require vehicles to yield to non-vehicle road users. The maximum speed limit on school streets will be set to 10 mph. The law also allows a state or local government to use an automated vehicle identification system to detect traffic violations in a school zone or on a Safe Route to School.
Anyway, folks — pay attention and remember the existence of other people. As a confession after all this preaching: Just this morning, I turned out of a lot. There was a sign. It told me I couldn't turn the direction I was, in fact, turning! I, too, will do better.
(Approaching the dead end at River Landing? Here's your sign. There's another just like in on the Home Depot end of the same trailway.)
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