Turn off cell phones at schools and watch out for kids

Public schools reopened for the 2001-2002 academic year yesterday. It’s rare that classes start this early and all three local school districts began fall classes the same day.

Please be extremely careful around school sites because children are especially unpredictable when school reopens. And some of them, of course, are kindergartners. They might dart out in traffic at any time.

If you have a cell phone, turn it off when you’re taking children to or from school.

Some businesses are telling their employees to stop all use of cell phones in vehicles because victims of accidents are now suing employers if their workers were using cell phones–conducting business–when accidents occurred.

Cellular phones are incompatible with safe driving. They’re particularly dangerous near schools or in school parking lots. So just turn them off until you’ve departed school zones. And please, if your kids are within reasonable walking distance to school, let them walk.

Children getting rides to school, but living only blocks away, make worse the morning and afternoon gridlock at every public school.

And since we’re talking about safety, please don’t drink and drive, and please do drive defensively this holiday weekend.