CRASH!!!
That was the sound that over 300 students heard in the 2025-2026 school year as they were struck by cars in CCSD just trying to get to school; according to 8 News Now, around half of these students were riding e-scooters or e-bikes, and this number is only going up.
While some parents argue that the riders of these electric vehicles are being reckless and riding into incoming traffic without a second thought, there are also an equal number of students who tell the story a little differently. The students claim that drivers in school zones should not be going as fast as they are, and that by doing so they are posing a threat to potential students crossing roads on their daily commute. Nonetheless police reports indicate that the blame is almost equivalent on both sides. They also note, however, that it is in fact drivers that are responsible a majority of the time by around three percent.
Unfortunately, the number of students that get struck by drivers is only going up. While it is abundantly clear that the introduction of e-scooters and e-bikes has caused an increase in student-driver collisions, removing these electric vehicles would also be detrimental for students as many find it as a reliable and fast way for them to get to school in the past years.
It may seem that the only solution would be to remove these electronic vehicles permanently, in order to prevent further incidents caused by sudden high-speed interactions. Thankfully, there are alternatives that could potentially lower the risk of accidents significantly. For instance, the expansion of a physical bike lane that provides a sort of curb leading up to school grounds. This would prevent cars from entering said lane, would allow for a sort of isolation of the two variables, and make certain paths to get to school for students much easier to follow. Additionally, bike and scooter drop-off zones could be installed away from school pick up lines that would help these students avoid car traffic and provide security for students who do not wish to monitor their e-vehicles during the school day.
It is also the drivers responsibility to ensure the safety of students as they commute to and from schools every day. There are a handful of easy-to-implement solutions for drivers, rather than removing cars entirely. To elaborate, road signs that read “Bike Path,” in addition to the usual “School Zone” sign, could, on paper, alert drivers ahead of time that they will be entering an area where students, mainly children, are operating high-speed electronic vehicles to travel to school.
Ideally, the number of students that are hit by cars would go down in the coming years. Alas, that is likely not the case as studies have only shown the numbers to continue rising due to both e-vehicles and drivers struggling to adapt. Nevertheless, it is still everyone’s job, whether you are a student or parent, to ensure the safety of everyone going into the school year.
Comments are closed.