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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Commissioner Urges Caution in School Zones, Around Buses

Police Commissioner Rodney F. Querrard Sr. and the V.I. Police Department will join the V.I. Department of Education in observing National School Bus Safety Week, which begins Monday and ends Oct. 24.

The commissioner said he has received reports over the years of motor vehicle operators not stopping when a school bus stops, extends its stop sign and activates its flashing lights. That makes this year’s theme, "At My Stop, You Stop," increasingly relevant, he said in a news release issued Friday.

Bus drivers and school crossing guards are instructed to report all vehicles that speed around stopped school buses when they are discharging passengers.

Querrard also reminded drivers to observe all posted road signs, especially those instructing drivers to slow down in a school zone. According to V.I. law, when school is in session the speed limit in a school zone is 20 miles per hour, even when students are not present. When children are present the speed limit reduces to 10 miles per hour.

“Disregarding the signs of a stopped school bus discharging students is very risky behavior, and a violation of the law” Querrard said. “Let us not wait for a child to get injured or killed. The same goes for exceeding the speed limit when you are in school zones. The signs are placed there for a reason. A child or pedestrian hurt, or worse, because of someone’s negligence … just might be their own child or family member, or someone they know. It is just not worth taking the chance. There is no excuse to put our children in harm’s way by ignoring the law as it pertains to stopped school buses, or neglecting to follow what the posted signs indicate.”

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