QUINCY, ILL. -- Police are urging parents and drivers to use more caution around schools after a fender bender involving a Quincy school bus and another vehicle last week.
The accident happened on Maine Street around three o'clock Tuesday afternoon in the school zone shared by Madison Elementary and St. Peter School. This area is highly congested around that time every afternoon as both schools dismiss for the day. Streets are crowded around 25th and Maine Street when both St. Peter School and Madison School let out for the day. It's congested, to say the least.
Maine Street is a busy street as it is...add school buses, parents parking on both sides of the street and children walking, and you have a recipe for potential problems. In fact, in the twenty minutes KHQA spent at this intersection Monday, we witnessed two near-miss accidents between a car pulling out in front of a school bus, and another car not yielding to a bus pulling out.
Madison School Principal Kelle Bunch told me this congestion is always a concern at this time of day.
But Bunch says she and the district's transportation department along with the Quincy Police Department have worked together to alleviate some of the problems. Dismissals have been staggered somewhat to allow buses and parent pick-ups to occur at different times and locations around the school. But even with these efforts, Principal Bunch says the key to keeping kids safe is for everyone in the area to be more aware in these school zones.
Lt. Dennis Bingheim with the Quincy Police Department said, "Be watchful and slow down."
Police say many problems with this congestions could be solved if drivers and parents would follow the rules of the road.
Lt. Bingheim said, "There are some things parents can do, and one is not to park in yellow zones. They're there for a reason -- for safety and to alleviate congestion and make it so that people making turns can see if children are present."
In fact, in the time KHQA was at Madison School, I spotted at least a half-dozen parents and grandparents parked illegally, which could make for problems with departing buses and children.
Other safety rules: follow the school speed limit or go slower if children are present. And think about avoiding these busy areas during release times if at all possible.
Lt. Dennis Bingheim with the Quincy Police Department says parents should think about parking farther away legally and walking to the school to pick up children, or set up a meeting place with kids just five minutes later in order to allow all the traffic to clear. He says it's up to everyone to keep this precious cargo safe.
Traffic congestion is a problem at almost every school during pick-up times, so use caution no matter where you are if students are present.
Just a reminder, use of cell phones in school zones, whether you're talking or texting, is against the law in the state of Illinois.
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