New traffic tracking signs added to Littleton school zones

LITTLETON, Colo. ( KDVR ) — Tuesday was the first day of school for Westminster and Littleton Public Schools .

After an Euclid Middle School student was hit and killed by a car on his way to school last year, the new year brings new safety measures to school zones apart of Littleton Public Schools. FOX31’s Carly Moore rode along with Littleton School Resource Officer Rick Redmond to get the details.

Redmond is also Rudder’s handler — a police pup who is the support dog for kids at Euclid Middle School.

There is now a three-part safety effort called “ Safer Streets Littleton ” to keep kids safe this year. Redmond said the city is doing education, enforcement and infrastructure. There’s new signage, new crosswalks and heavier enforcement — that’s where Redmond comes in.

Some of the new speed limit signs can count how many cars pass by, during what times of the day and their speed to let officers know where they need to send more patrols.

“We get the data back and it tells us, oh, well, we’ve got people going 40 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone and we’d have so many cars doing this in this area. We can get a cop out there and then they can enforce it that way. And so, we need to work on this because clearly, it’s a problem,” said Redmond. “How do we further educate people? How do we enforce this better? How do we make this a safer place for kids to come to school, and then what do we need to do that?”

Redmond also does crosswalk patrol near Euclid Middle School to make sure kids are crossing safely.

Some school zones are along pretty busy roads in Littleton, so the city added extra signs that say, “school route.” The city hopes to educate drivers about where students will be walking and biking.

“People just need to remember that things can happen so quickly, and they can happen so fast. You’re looking down at your cell phone, you know, if somebody’s out in front of your car, a kid walks out into the street, you’re not paying attention for a second, things just happen so quickly that you really need to be on your game when you’re in the school zones. And it’s just for these kids and for their safety, and we’re trying to do our side at the city side of it, but the community needs to do their side too and make sure that they’re aware of where these zones are at,” Redmond said.

Littleton Public Schools has a map that shows the safest routes to get to your school.

So, be aware, look up from your phone and slowdown in school zones.

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