Agencies team up on school safety campaign around Las Vegas

Metro Police Lt. Daryl Rhoads doesn’t want a repeat of last year, when more than 100 children were struck by cars on their school commute in the Las Vegas area.

That’s why several agencies tasked with traffic safety are reminding motorists to be on the lookout for children when school resumes Monday.

Metro and other local police departments around the valley will partner with Clark County School District Police to have high visibility around schools to ensure drivers are following laws and pupils are walking or riding safely, Rhoads said at a news event Monday outside Kenny Guinn Middle School on Flamingo Road.

“We will be happy to issue a gentle reminder by way of citation if you break any of these rules that are established to keep our kids safe,” said Rhoads, a lieutenant in Metro’s traffic bureau. “We want to change driving behavior. We would rather do it before rather than issue a citation to remind you of the importance of being safe in that area.”

For motorists, Rhoads reminds people to leave early, adhere to the low speed limits of school zones, not be distracted behind the wheel, follow school rules for the pickup and drop-off lines, not drop children off in the middle of the street, and not pull ahead of a stopped school bus.

“Don’t pass a stopped school bus with the signs out. That means kids are getting on and off the bus,” he said. “Maybe somebody forgot something or they’re going to run out and try to cross the street right there. If you’re passing a stopped school bus, that could equal serious problems.”

Rob Holmes, a manager for All City Management Services, said pupils also have the responsibility to listen to their crossing guards’ instructions, pay attention to their surroundings, walk their bikes, scooters and skateboards in crosswalks, look both ways, and cross quickly. The organization staffs crossing guards outside local elementary and middle schools and is looking to fill several spots.

Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, whose district includes the area around Guinn Middle School, said that “this is the time of year that I look all Clark County residents in the eye and beg and plead and ask that each of us do our part in ensuring that, yes, the first week of school is a good one, is a safe one, is a positive one for this community, but also that we are each doing our part.”

“We cannot, in this community, afford for any one among us to be a statistic,” Naft said. “The gentlemen who are with us today have too much experience responding to tragic events that change the future for individuals and so many around them and each of us.”

Andrew Bennett, the director for the Clark County Office of Traffic Safety, said enforcement efforts would be up in the hour before the school day starts and the hour after classes let out.

Last school year, drivers hit 138 children going to or from school, he said. One child, a 5-year-old at Somerset Academy of Las Vegas-Losee Campus in North Las Vegas, died in a school-related traffic incident.

This year, the goal is zero, Rhoads said.

“It can be, if we all do our part,” he said.