In the Zone: Franklin Elementary

March 30, 2009

by Brian Heap (WICHITA, Kan.)

This week In the Zone leaves the radar gun on the shelf to focus on a different, but equally important school zone safety concern: STOP signs.

Eyewitness News viewer Dan Cronin invited us to join him in his daily routine of watching drivers blow through the stop sign in front of his son's school, Franklin Elementary.

Sitting inside his SUV with our camera rolling, we monitored the driving habits of those passing by Franklin and those who park to pick up their children after school.

What we saw surprised us, but not Dan. He's counted as many as 11 stop sign runners in one day. "I don't understand how somebody can do that. Because it's plain. It says stop and they go right through it," Said Cronin.

On this day, our cameras caught at least six blatant violations committed by drivers who made no effort to reach a complete stop. We also counted another ten rolling stops by drivers.

We contacted Wichita Police with our findings. A police department spokesman tells us a neighborhood traffic enforcement project was launched around Franklin back on February 19, 2009. Since that time an officer has regularly patrolled the area, looking for traffic violations.

The morning after our call, police were out looking for stop sign runners in front of Franklin Elementary. The spokesman said officers handed out eight traffic tickets that morning.

Wichita PD says it will continue to aggressivley enforce all traffic laws across the city, limited only by resources and its responses to calls for help from the public.

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