The addition of the new Bluestone Elementary School has sparked conversation when it comes to the speed limit on Garber’s Church Road. When the road was previously a 35 mph zone, drivers and traffic drove dangerously fast on the long flat sections of the road. There have been numerous accidents due to irresponsible, fast driving. But today is different. Five to ten year-olds fill the sidewalks after Bluestone Elementary releases their students. Many little girls and boys walk with their parents, siblings or stuffed animals mere feet from the dangerous road. As cars zoom past, the children are put in danger of being struck by an out of control driver. The change of speed limit has the purpose to control this danger and make it far less likely for an accident to occur. The change of speed limit is a necessity, not an inconvenience. These are children’s lives that are being saved.
According to aplus.com, over 30% of fatal traffic accidents are caused by speeding. The only two things that cause more accidents are impaired driving and distracted driving. If you think about it, speeding contributes to these two bad habits of driving immensely. By putting the pedal to the metal, you are lessening your reaction time, you are impairing your judgements and you are making your vehicle harder to control. On top of that, an accident at 35-40 mph is going to be much more severe than an accident at 25-30 mph, and the accident is far less likely to happen in the first place when you are going at a slower speed.
Speeding is not the only thing that may impair your judgement, being young does as well. In elementary school, your brain is not near fully developed. The frontal lobe of the brain contributes to your decision making skills and reasoning when making choices. When your frontal lobe is not fully developed, especially at a young age, you do not make good decisions and your judgements are impaired. In fact, your brain isn’t fully developed until age 25. This leads to little kindergartners not being aware of their surroundings. They can walk out into the middle of the road without a care in the world. They might be playing with their brother or sister; they might be running away from their parents, but here you come in your 2009 Toyota Tacoma going 40 mph and BANG, no more kindergartner. This accident could have been prevented if you were going 10 mph slower because you would have had time to react and slow down.
You may complain and you may grumble, but this speed limit change is one for the better. The last thing you want is to hit a child because you felt it was inconvenient to go 10 mph slower. Almost everyday after school there are now police cruisers waiting outside. If saving a child’s life is not an enough incentive for you to go slower, getting a speeding ticket should do the trick.