Cell phones not allowed in school zones

PEA RIDGE — Keeping children safe is a high priority for school and law enforcement officials in Pea Ridge.

Drivers are still using cell phones in school zones in Pea Ridge, Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said. State law forbids the use of cell phones in a school zone.

Recently, police cited two drivers for speeding and using cell phones in the school zone and issued a warning to a third driver.

State law adopted in 2011 prohibits the use of “a handheldwireless telephone” while operating a motor vehicle when passing a school building or school zone during school hours when children are present and outside the building.

“It is extremely important to keep our children safe,” Ledbetter said. “The fewer distractions drivers have, the more safely they drive.”

Police patrol the school zones during the beginning and end of the school days and notice many drivers using cell phones while driving, but it’s not the young drivers, one officer said.

“It’s not necessarily the teen-age drivers, like those on the way to high school.

It’s adults,” Sgt. Ryan Walker said, adding that drivers under 18 are not to be on a cell phone and drivers from 18 to 21 years of must use a hands-free device.

It’s not just talking on the phone, Walker said.

With modern “smart” phones, there are many uses that will distract drivers. It includes anything - such as checking the weather or bank account,posting on Facebook - that takes the drivers’ attention from operating the vehicle safely.

“On the sidewalks and roadways near the schools, we have children walking, sometimes talking with each other or on a cell phone and drivers behind the wheel of a 3,000-pound vehicle on a cell phone and not paying complete attention to their driving or surroundings - what are the possibilities?” Ledbetter said.

“It is extremely important to give our full attention to the school zones because we have kids walking, riding bikes and skateboards and young drivers. Using the phone and texting is against the law and distracts the drivers from their surroundings putting our kids at risk. Please be mindful of this during the commute through the school zones,” Cpl. Mitch Brown, school resource officer, said.