With school now back in session around Phoenix, it’s a good time to get a quick review of the school zone traffic laws in Arizona, since Arizona treats school zones differently than most states.
The school zones I’ll describe today, look something like this when you approach them:
These school zones are temporary, by which I mean, they are only a school zone while those signs are in the road. The first sign indicates the start of the zone and naturally the second sign indicates the conclusion. The third sign, refers to the start of the zone for the oncoming cars, and can be ignored. Within the zone the speed limit is a strict 15 mph. You can and will get a speeding ticket (for double the “normal” fine) for doing 16 mph in an Arizona school zone. Arizona may fund its schools poorly, but has perhaps the nation’s strictest school zones, taking a child’s life very seriously. To my knowledge, no child has ever been killed while within the (relative) safety of a school zone. (I was told this by a police officer once. I attempted to verify it today, but could find no reference to either the lack of fatalities or actual fatalities.). If it’s true there have been no fatalities, that’s a record I’d like to see continue indefinitely.
School zones signed in this way always end at a crosswalk. Upon driving past the crosswalk you can resume the regular posted speed, even though oncoming traffic is still in their zone.
As you travel through a school zone, if there are more than one traffic lanes in your direction, you cannot pass or overtake another car in an adjacent lane. That’s what the “No Passing” refers to on the sign. Thus, if you enter the zone at 15 mph and the adjacent car is doing 10 mph you cannot overtake and pass that car. Passing is defined as your front bumper going beyond the other car’s rear bumper or your rear bumper moving forward beyond the other car’s front bumper. Basically, you can jockey side by side, but don’t move fully ahead or attempt to overtake.
As you approach the crosswalk, if there is a child in any portion of the crosswalk, you must stop and allow the child to finish crossing. It doesn’t matter where they are (for example five lanes away, on a six lane divide road), you must stop. During prime crossing times, most crosswalks will also have an adult crossing guard (the person that set the signs in the road) and any time the crossing guard has their stop sign up, in the crosswalk, you must stop, regardless of traffic lights, pedestrians, etc. I’ve seen crossing guards literally bang on the fenders and hoods of motorists that are not paying attention, and doubtless there are many children that owe their lives to the work our crossing guards perform each and every day.
Let’s all continue to be safe and courteous around school zones this year, and give our children the extra few seconds they need to cross the street safely.
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I have been seeing more and more of these school zones traffic signs going up around my neighborhood. It makes me feel better knowing my kid is safe walking between our house and the school. We live in the Signature Community property apartments where everything is up to code. As a parent, safety is my number one concern.