We’ve all experienced the morning rush of getting to school on time and those pesky school zones always try to get in our way. Little do people know that school zones are important for the well being of students and the surrounding community. School zones and whether or not they are respected have been brought into the limelight recently, because on Tuesday, Sept. 15 there was a tragic accident outside of North Miami Senior High, leaving one student dead and two others hospitalized, all because a driver was speeding down the street.

School zones exist for a reason and citizens should take them seriously in order to avoid endangering children. Even if you have two tardies in your first period and you can not afford to get another one, it’s not worth endangering the wellbeing of others. But as exemplified by Tuesday’s tragedy, school zones sometimes just are not be enough. It would be safer if schools try to extend the school zones and their hours of operation or add officers to help with traffic. Sometimes, Gables uses police officers to regulate traffic in the afternoons, which helps significantly. However, it can not be helped that things are just a little more hectic in the morning.

When school zone speeds are enforced, it is no doubt that all the children will be a little safer, because if all drivers follow the rules it lowers the likelihood of accidents. Regardless of whether or not drivers adhere to school zone speed limits, students will be at risk of driving related incidents. Students should be careful when crossing the street; they cannot rely solely on speed limits to protect them, because there’s always one driver who does not follow the speed limit, especially in Miami.

“Personally, the most annoying part of my morning is crossing the street and having 50 cars trying to turn while you’re trying to get to school,” sophomore Daniel Krulig said.

But doing a little extra to help protect students never hurt anybody. Even if school zones were a little more strict, or possibly even feared, the lives of students would be a bit safer