Too many distractions: Exterior signage clutter around schools needs to be eliminated

Editor;

I think we all should take a fresh look at the entire school traffic environment.

With so many vehicles and so many distractions, it is a miracle that more of these tragedies ["Fourth-grade girl dies after being hit by vehicle at Sugar Mill Elementary in Port Orange"] haven’t happened. Eliminating needless distractions and creating a “sterile” school traffic environment should be job one.

While it would be impossible to eliminate common distractions like smartphones or car radios, we certainly could eliminate needless exterior signage clutter that has the potential to block the views of traffic and pedestrians and that competes for driver attention.

Most people don’t know that schools are not subject to local signage ordinances that would prohibit many banner ads. Their justification for the banner ads has been that a portion of the ad revenue reportedly supports some school activities. But at what cost? Student safety?

Just last week, I witnessed a collision at a middle school in a student pick-up traffic lane. The lane just happened to be lined with distracting promotional graphics. Drivers near schools should be solely concentrating on driving safely, not on reading outdoor ads.

I cannot say that the banner ads contributed to this recent tragedy but it doesn’t take a traffic engineering degree to see the need to reduce driver distractions near schools not create them.

Why slow down to 20 miles an hour in a school zone only to take your eyes off of the road to read a banner ad?

Jerry Kenney

Port Orange