Risky Driving Behavior at Peak During Pittsford School Pick-up & Drop Off Times

A new study from data firm Zendrive reveals that drivers across the nation engage in their most risky driving behaviors — cell phone use, speeding and sudden braking or fast acceleration — precisely when our kids are getting to and from school.

That won’t shock those of you who have been anywhere near a school drop-off loop recently. It’s bad. Many drivers are focused on getting their own kids where they need to be safely, while not even paying attention to all the other kids walking, biking or getting to and from their buses and other vehicles. And if you have high schoolers, you have the added complication of new drivers.

As a parent of two kids that bike and walk to school here, that’s terrifying. And it should terrify you, regardless of how your kids get to school. Because at some point, every student is out of a vehicle and at their most vulnerable. They have to cross parking lots, crosswalks and shared spaces to get to and from your car or their bus.

What data did Zendrive use for the study?

Zendrive collected data from the mobile phones of 9 million drivers around schools during April 2018.  “The study tracked ‘risky behaviors’— like cell phone use, speeding, and sudden braking or fast acceleration — using sensors already present in the phones. The risky behaviors were then matched to the physical locations within one-quarter mile of 125,000 U.S. schools.”

So how did our schools stack up?

New York State got a D. Monroe County gets a D+.

• Allen Creek Elementary School: A+
• Mendon Center Elementary School: B+
• Jefferson Road Elementary School: B-
• Thornell Road Elementary School: B-
• Pittsford Mendon High School: B-
• Pittsford Sutherland High School: C
• St. Louis School (private): C
• Park Road Elementary School: C-
• Calkins Road Middle School: C-
• Barker Road Middle School: D+

Not great. And driver behavior is getting worse.

Think you aren’t driving that fast when you are rushing to work or the school drop-off loop?

If you hit a pedestrian going 40 mph, that pedestrian has a 10% chance of living. At 30? About 50%. If that person is a child, the chances are much lower. If that doesn’t scare you enough, take into account the number of SUVs we have in our community. Someone hit by an SUV is twice as likely to die than if hit by a car. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway safety: “SUVs are higher off the ground than cars, they’re stiffer, and they have blunter geometry in the front compared with the more sloping front ends of cars. These features of SUVs can lead to more injuries of all types when a pedestrian is struck by an SUV, especially injuries to the chest and head.”

Want to keep your kids safe?

Those of us who drive are part of the solution. Leave a few minutes early, drive the speed limit, don’t run red lights, stop for pedestrians, watch out for kids on bikes, put your phone somewhere you can’t reach and cut kids some slack because their judgment can be a bit cray-cray. Training a new driver? Lead by example.

Read about how your speed impacts your community’s safety and quality of life.

See our report on Walking & Biking to School in Pittsford.