The Safety of Our Kids

THE LAST COUPLE of meetings of the Safety Committee we have discussed the traffic issues here in Aliante. We discussed, in depth, the fatality accidents that have happened the last couple of years, and one as recently as a couple of months ago right on Aliante Parkway that the local community was really upset about since that nice couple was known by so many. We discussed the possibility of extra patrols to monitor speeding with our Councilman Scott Black. All ideas on how to deal with is on the table at the moment.

There is one issue that needs to be dealt with immediately. The only way we know how to approach this is to try and appeal to logic. Traffic laws don’t seem to be getting the point across. The problem is cars ignoring the cross walks in school zones. Drivers absolutely MUST follow the directions of the Crossing Guards. This is not an option. It is State Law.

We have a dedicated volunteer named Ms Debbie. She is a Crossing Guard and is part of the Safety Committee. Ms Deb bie gives us first hand accounts on how she and the kids crossing the street almost get hit by cars running the stop signs and red lights every single day of the school week. Drivers yell at her, yell at the kids, and just ignore the fact that someone holding a stop sign is escorting children across a busy roadway. This behavior must stop. Please, we are begging at this point. Pay attention to your surroundings as you are driving thru Aliante during the mornings and the afternoons. Contrary to popular belief the speed limit is not 65mph on our local streets. It is in fact 35mph thru the entire Aliante Master Planned Community. Whether you think the speed limits should be higher or lower is not material to the conversation. The issue is that we don’t want to get a report one afternoon that a kid got run over by a distracted driver.

Please consider being a little more courteous as you drive thru our community and think about your kids, or other parents kids and their safety as such. One incident where a person is hit by a car causes a chain reaction of events that could involve Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Prison, and/or Funeral Directors. It is really easy to avoid all of these. Just slow down and pay attention. Thanks for your time.

Michael W. Shappley Safety Committee Member