Every morning, there are 50.4 million schoolchildren in the US and over 5 million in Canada that head out to school. Whether they do so by foot, bike, bus, or car, that’s a lot of activity in school zones every morning and afternoon. It’s critical that drivers are aware of changes in speed limits so that they slow down in these high-risk zones.

The NHTSA reports that the second to most common time of day for fatal car crashes is between 3-6 pm, the hours when many children are headed home from school. More accidents happen during daylight hours in normal weather conditions, when driver defenses are down, than any other times.  How can you ensure that children can get to and from school safely each day?

A study conducted on safety around schools found that installing traffic calming solutions significantly reduced child pedestrian injury rates. Oftentimes, drivers are unaware of lower speed limits or that they have entered a school zone. Changeable speed limit signs warn drivers when lower speed limits are in effect while radar speed signs alert drivers to their speeds. Both include options to flash digits or strobe light at drivers who exceed threshold speeds. SafePace signs help return driver focus to their surroundings, protecting students and keeping roads safe.