Dear Parents & Guardians,

Transporting your children to and from school should not be a stressful situation. Parking in the drop off zone for the time it takes a child to safely exit the vehicle on the passenger side of the car is acceptable, nothing else is. Besides the inconvenience, the host of other people wishing to do the same thing in a limited amount of space and time risks the safety of our children. The roadway becomes narrower as a vehicle parks in front of the school or in a drop off zone. Drivers are anxious to get to their destinations. There are other children walking to school, traffic volume increases during this time. These are all distractions to a driver. A motor vehicle traveling 25 mph travels 36.65 feet per second. That's approximately two car lengths. The average motorist reaction time is 1-1.5 seconds. If a child exits a parked vehicle on the driver's side into traffic, or someone runs between two parked cars into the roadway the results could be tragic. There is a lot of suffering involved when a child is struck.

The congestion around the schools not only hinders the safety of our children but parents, teachers and office staff as well. Police, Fire, and EMS personnel along with their vehicles may need to respond quickly in an emergency and hope that the fire lanes are clear. We also hope that you will teach you children by example, and obey traffic laws by listening to your Police officers and Crossing Guards directions.

The next time that you feel that you need to park illegally near a school, we ask you to think for a moment and remember how much you love children. When an officer is called to a school to enforce parking complaints, it reduces the number of units that are on the road patrolling your streets, and ensuring the safety of your children walking to and from school.

We at the Glen Ridge Police Department understand how important it is to get your children off to school safely. We anticipate your assistance in this matter. However we do remind you that the following violations and those more severe will be strictly addressed: