School Zone Safety: Keep Students And Teachers Safe

With students and teachers returning to school after five months, school zones will return to busy driving hubs.

Cookeville Police Captain Bobby Anderson said the main violation the department sees is distracted driving.

“Obviously it is illegal to text or talk while holding a mobile device now, and so keep that in mind,” Anderson said. “The phone call or the text message can wait.”

Anderson said drivers need to pay attention to speed limit changes and SPO’s directing traffic. The fine for speeding in a school zone can be around $200, and distracted driving $50.

“[You] don’t want to be the person that is involved in the injury of a child or someone in a school zone, so everyone should pay attention to their speed, pay attention to the caution lights when they’re coming into a school zone,” Anderson said.

According to a distracted driver report, over 250 cases were reported in Putnam County last year.