DENVER (KDVR) — Denver students are into their second week back and police are taking extra measures outside of classrooms to teach drivers about speed safety in school zones with the start of the new school year.
“We’ve had our officers out going to designated schools, trying to get the message out to all of our districts all across the Denver area to please slow down,” Denver Police Technician Kurt Barnes said.
Around Colfax Elementary, speed limits go down to 20 mph from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on school days.
FOX31 caught up with officers, hoping to stop speeding early on in the school year, with heightened enforcement Tuesday. Officers clocked speeds of more than 20 mph over and over again in half an hour.
Additionally, just last week, the first week of school in Denver, 2,181 school zone tickets by photo enforcement were tallied.
“Last week, the high speed was approximately 69 miles an hour in a posted 20 mile an hour school zone,” Barnes said. “You look at something like that, a child cannot survive a crash involving those high speeds.”
In school zones, fines are doubled and come with four or six points on the driver’s license.
“Fines can go anywhere from $285 all the way up to $420,” Barnes said. “It’s an inconvenience but more importantly, we’re talking that this is a safety message for our children.”