Safe Communities Coalition Promotes School Traffic Safety

The Muskingum County Safe Communities Coalition promoted back to school traffic safety Tuesday.

Many local students started back to school Tuesday. The event was held at the John McIntire Elementary School. Lieutenant of the Zanesville Post of the State Highway Patrol, Matt Boyd told us more about the information they want to bring to the public’s attention.

"Just to stress and bring to the forefront the importance of people being safe on the roadway with the children walking to and from school." Said Boyd, "Traveling through school zones, you know, making sure people slow down, take a little bit more time and be cautious and then also out on all of the roadways, with school buses traveling, picking kids up."

Tips you can use to help keep students safe include paying close attention while driving, coming to a complete stop and planning ahead in order to leave time to get through those school zones. Boyd said it’s not just drivers that need to keep safety in mind.

"Really it’s everyone. Because you know we want the kids to realize they need to pay attention, be safe, you know, when they’re walking to school and getting on the bus," He explained, "…then our younger drivers that drive to school, you know, we want to make sure that they’re safe and taking their time and also paying attention."

Boyd says id there were twenty nine school related accidents from the years of 2011 to 2014 and they hope to eliminate those numbers completely with these events.

The Zanesville Police Department, and The Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office are also part of the Safe Communities Coalition. Other event participants included AAA School Safety Patrol Students, Kristina Bell, The Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department and a representative from Genesis Trauma.