Police offer safe driving tips
Emma Gnidzeijko
Emergency vehicles respond to a two motor-vehicle crash that occurred between Coleman and Parking Lot B last Friday morning. In the attached article, Prosper ISD Police Department officer Christopher Reeves provided the details of this Aug. 17 accident as well as offered tips teenage drivers could follow to ensure safer roads. “I feel like going too fast in the parking lot is so common when it’s not ok, especially in the school zone,” Bowers said. “Everyone just needs to reduce their speeds, especially at the school, and pay attention while they’re driving.”
After a two motor-vehicle crash occurred between Coleman and Parking Lot B Friday morning, Prosper ISD Police Department officer Christopher Reeves provided the details of the accident as well as offered tips teenage drivers could follow to ensure safer roads.
According to the National Safety Council, more than 50,000 parking lot crashes occur each year. Officer Reeves gave the reasons one of those occurred here at around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 17.
“Due to driver inattention, one of the cars turned left into the parking lot right in front of the other car who had the right-of-way, committing the traffic violation of ‘fail to yield road’ while turning left,” Reeves said. “Both vehicles sustained heavy front-end damage, there was air-bag deployment, and no one was actually transported by ambulance.”
The Town of Prosper Police, as well as the Prosper Fire Department, responded to the accident in addition to the district’s officers. Reeves said the school zone light was off since the incident occurred prior to 7:45 a.m., so teens did not have to reduce their speed limit. After school, it flashes until 4:15 p.m. and the school district’s Police Chief Chad Vessels put in an order to extend the light for at least 20 more minutes.
“Teenagers must remember the school zone speed limit,” Reeves said. “They just have to focus on the roadway. Know the traffic laws. Know what the right-of-way in each situation is. Know when you can turn left.”
District officer Darrell Terry started working for PISD this year and said he thinks teenagers being distracted on roads is a major problem as well.
“I worked at Allen ISD as well as a few other schools, and the biggest issue was teenagers texting and driving,” PISD Officer Darrell Terry said. “I have kids who go to elementary school, and I am a big advocate of stopping people in the school zone, not to write tickets, but to make sure they know the law.”
Terry said he thinks educating people is one of his most important jobs because he has stopped students who didn’t know they were breaking laws while driving.
“We catch a lot of kids who are still in school, so these are people who just got their licenses, and they’re still learning how to drive,” Terry said. “It’s vital for students to learn these driving laws because although they learn these things in drivers education, it is important they still are visual on the road.”
Senior Maddie Bowers lives around 10 minutes from the school and was a few cars behind Friday’s accident.
“Even though I left my house at 7:10 a.m., I was still late to school last week since the roads are so congested,” Bowers said. “Not only was I late to school Friday because of the accident, but almost everyone I knew in that line was because it made the roads even worse. Everyone seemed to be very aggravated, and there was lots of honking since people couldn’t get through. Some people even rolled their windows down to talk to the police officers who were there.”
Bowers said she often sees teenagers and parents in the high school area driving recklessly.
“I feel like going too fast in the parking lot is so common when it’s not ok, especially in the school zone,” Bowers said. “Everyone just needs to reduce their speeds, especially at the school, and pay attention while they’re driving.”
Law requires students view police interaction video prior to graduation
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