WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Thursday was the first day of instruction for the Wausau School District, and it also marked the beginning of an awareness campaign for the city’s police department.
In an effort to keep safety top of mind, extra speeding enforcement was on hand Thursday morning.”Our priority is the safety of all these kids walking to school and we’re going to enforce that school zone speed,” said Deputy Chief Matthew Barnes.
That speed, unless otherwise posted, is just 15 miles per hour. “15 [miles per hour] is a pretty slow speed. I think the average person looks down at their speedometer, even when they think they’re going slow, they’re going to realize they’re still going over 15,” Barnes said.
Anyone pulled over for speeding in a school zone Thursday morning was getting a ticket, no warning required. “Our ask is not that we want to write citations, it’s a pain to have to write someone a ticket,” Barnes said.
“This is the first day, this is about changing people’s behavior,” Barnes added.
The campaign was all in the name of making sure everyone can get into school safely. Fines double in school zones compared to most roads.
The department says it may not devote extra attention every day to school zone speeders, but will have patrol officers monitoring as much as they can.
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