Crossing guard urges caution this Halloween
Oct 28, 2024, 5:43 PM | Updated: 7:00 pm
SOUTH JORDAN — A crossing guard in Daybreak asked all of us to take some extra care this Halloween and look out for children.
The neighborhood by Eastlake Elementary can be pretty calm. Traffic moves slowly through the four-way stops. But in the mornings before school, Lorena Marcotte said she’s seen a lot of things that might surprise parents in her 15 years as a crossing guard.
“It’s been a lot of not wanting to stop all the way, or not stopping at all,” Marcotte told KSL TV. “Just blatantly not stopping, or just to kind of tap and roll.”
Drivers need to stop anytime a guard is on the road, even if kids aren’t on the street. They might see something that you don’t.
“Once we’ve worked that crossing long enough, we get to know our kids. We get to know which ones like to run across, which ones like to ride,” she said.
Far too often, drivers are distracted.
“I see people not paying attention, or being on their phone,” Marcotte said. “Like driving with the phones completely up in front of them.”
That’s the kind of thing that happened during one close call she will never forget. Marcotte told KSL TV that approximately two or three years ago, there was a second-grader on the crosswalk, and a car still rolling along.
“My counterpart was able to get my attention, and I just kind of jumped in front of the car to have her stop,” she said.
Otherwise, she believed that second-grader would have been struck. With Halloween only days away, Marcotte asked everyone to be especially careful that night. Go through neighborhoods slowly, even below 20 miles per hour, and if you see someone in the crossing, stop.
“It’s really just a matter of seconds,” Marcotte said. “So stopping that extra 30 seconds really does go a long way.”
When it comes to making sure kids stay safe, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Board recommends having your kids go out in groups and stick together. They also encouraged them to cross only at crosswalks and intersections.