First Day of School Lesson for Drivers: Slow Down

Police in Tredyffrin and Easttown were out in full force for the first morning of fall classes in the T/E School District Monday.

Officers in marked and unmarked police cars kept a close eye on district schools and the roads that students and their famlies walk and drive on to get to school.

Tredyffrin Police Superintendent Anthony Giaimo was among the police making rounds of the schools this morning. He was in an unmarked car. Other officers, like the one who pulled a truck over on Chesterbrook Boulevard just before school opened at Valley Forge Middle School, were out to keep drivers from violating the school zone speed limits.

Giaimo tells Patch the first morning of school went smoothly from a public safety standpoint. The Superintendent says for many drivers the first day of school can be a big adjustment as school speed zones that were not in effect during the summer months are suddenly 15 mile per hour zones.  "In the case of big trucks it's especially important," Giaimo tells Patch because big rigs need a lot more room to slow down than cars. Giaimo reminds drivers who may be in the habit of timing their morning commute for summer to allow extra time to develop driving habits that take school busses, school speed zones and road crossings with children into account.