Farewell sweet summer! We hope yours was filled with many happy days with friends and family making memories. School is officially back in session which means extra precautions need to be taken when on the road to help ensure the safety of all! With the excitement that back to school brings coupled with the many distractions before and after the school day, our youngest members of the community are not always entirely focused on traffic safety. It is up to all of us sharing the roadways to help safeguard students as they make their way to and from the schoolyards across our community. Being easily distracted is not reserved to excited students heading back to meet new friends and teachers. We can all become distracted easily enough as we begin to establish routines and schedules once again. We have gathered some commonly forgotten September road rules to watch for to ensure the safest community for everyone!

• School zones are now in effect, it’s important to know that per recent amendments to the MVA, school zones are no longer simply 30km/hr strictly between the hours of 8am and 5pm, but rather can be listed to reflect the appropriate hours for the school area. Make sure to take note of the signs to see if your school zone has a listed hour.
• Flashing red lights on school buses indicate that traffic must stop (in most cases: both lanes of traffic) and traffic is not to continue until the lights have stopped. Use heightened awareness when continuing as children may be rushing to get home or to school and not looking where they are going!
• Use extreme caution when you see parents or teachers acting as crossing guards, we are grateful to have parents, teachers and other community voluteers willing to donate their time to make students’ lives safer – please slow down when passing them.
• Do not overtake traffic in school zones.
• Shoulder check before opening doors to ensure you are not opening your door into traffic whether that be another a motor vehicle, electric bike or peddle bicycle!
• As always, go hands-free when driving – distracted driving causes accidents.
• If you are driving your children to school or dropping off passengers ensure they exit the vehicle on the passenger side, away from traffic!
• Ensure that you are checking both ways before crossing the road and teach others to do so as well.

From everyone here at Hemmerling Law, we wish everyone a safe and happy September! Remember to stay focused on the road, it’s better for all of us.