ODESSA, Texas — On Friday, a student from Odessa High School was hit by a truck, but only suffered minor injuries.
The injuries were non life-threatening, but the Odessa Police Department and Ector County ISD Police Department are hoping to remind all drivers to ease off the gas and be careful when driving through the school zones.
The old adage of "look both ways before crossing the road" still applies presently, and it is a lesson ECISD tries to instill into students when they are young.
“At the elementary level where we have crossing guards and we're able to mentor them on how to cross the street," ECISD PD Lieutenant Chancey Westfall said. "Most of the time, by the time they make the high school, we're hoping that they have a pretty firm grasp of 'look both ways before you cross the street' and to use the crosswalk when available. Unfortunately, there's always going to be kids that do silly things and moments of impulsivity and they just run out across the street and unfortunately sometimes accidents do happen."
Not everyone is going to listen or remember the rules, especially as they get into their teenage years.
Which is where officers tend to step up and increase their presence to make sure the kids are safe.
“It's not uncommon for us to increase our patrols, especially during the beginning of school years like in August and then also in January, especially when another school year is up," OPD Corporal Steve LeSueur said. "The main thing is that we can't be everywhere at once."
With the size of schools nowadays, officers from both OPD and ECISDPD are stretched thin.
Which is why school zones are placed around the property of the school to remind drivers to slow down as well.
Designated by the city, school traffic zones have lower speed limits than normal to encourage safe driving.
“I believe it's like 15 miles below that. For example, say it's 35. Then in the school zone, you need to slow down to about 20," LeSueur said. "So basically, if it's flashing or if there's crossing guard or a police officer, you have to slow down and you have to basically yield.”
LeSueur said schools tend to get busier when kids need to get picked up or dropped off, but some kids don’t wait by the school and will walk off somewhere else, either to get picked up or to hang out with friends.
So if you see a student that is crossing the crosswalk, even if they shouldn’t be, let them pass.
“The bottom line is that if they start crossing the intersection, wait for them to cross, even if they get halfway and then light turns green," LeSueur said. "You still you still have to wait for the pedestrian."
Even if someone is the safest driver in Texas, the unpredictability of a pedestrian can always cause accidents. Especially when some students think they're invincible.
“We have a lot of kids that, even in parking lots, they think because they have the right of way that they're okay," Westfall said. "Physics dictates that cars when they're moving. After the fact it doesn't matter who's right or wrong if someone's still seriously hurt. So look both ways where you cross the street and use the crosswalk when available.”
Traffic violations and fines are much higher as well in a school zone. This affects juveniles as well, who can get a citation for traffic violations.