Informal Poll to take your mind off your troubles

[constance]

In my old city -- actually, this was true all over the state -- school zone speed limits were taken Very Seriously Indeed. This was, I'm sure, more because the high fines for speeding came in mighty handy as income for an impoverished city/state, and less because we were on our Let's-Look-Out-for-the-Kids moral high ground, but the fact remains that it was pretty rare to have a school zone which encroached on a major street which did not feature at least one police car, and often more than one, during the hours school zones were in effect. And almost every New Orleanian car-owner I know has gotten a ticket for speeding in a school zone because they just didn't notice the signs. They are vigilant, in Louisiana, is what I'm saying.

Here, though, it's very different. People driving here seem to take school zone speed limits as suggestions rather than legal speed limits. Very often I'm the only person in any given crowd who slows down for them at all, and several times I've actually seen people pass patrol cars without slowing down even a little. Not only that, but trust me, if you do slow down, you're the recipient of some very filthy looks, whether or not there's a patrol car present. I can't help it, though. I was trained from an early age; I see the sign and hit my brake pedal reflexively.

What about where you live? Do you slow down for school zone signs? Does anyone? Do the police stake out schoool zones? I am curious to know which is the norm, you see, my erstwhile state or my not-so-new-by-now one.

:::

Also, I am rereading Georgette Heyer lately, which is something I do every now and then. I tend to revisit some novels -- my faves, of course -- more than others, but I reread one of what I consider to be my second-tier favorites (Arabella) and was agreeably surprised by its excellence. It was, in fact, better than I remembered, with its stellar supporting cast of adopted miscreants.

Don't you love it when that happens?

:::

Also also, my fingers smell like home-dried oregano. Yummmm.

Comments

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I always slow down in school zones, mostly because I'm a mom and if someone else didn't slow down when my kid was around I'd be furious. Golden Rule and all that.

There's usually a cop parked out in front of my son's school in the morning, but not so much in the afternoon (I drive him to and from school everyday). A lot of people seem to blow right through the school zone without slowing down, though. The crossing guards are always blowing their whistles in the afternoon.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

And I haven't even seen crossing guards here! I suppose they must have them, but I've yet to notice one. It seems to be very much a city where kids go elsewhere for school, and are either carpooled or bussed to get there.

I wonder if this at least partly accounts for the difference in attitides between cities, though. NO was very much a pedestrian city; lots of kids walked to and from school, and often, it was difficult to ramp up your speed past 10 mph, much less actually break the speed limit. :-?