by Sergeant Jay Froboese
This month I’d like to discuss aggressive drivers. For the most part, motorist driving in Murrieta do a reasonable job getting around the city. Unfortunately, when schools are starting in the morning and releasing in the afternoons, we see a lot of traffic congestion on the street. This situation tends to lead to aggressive driving and motorists taking chances they never normally would when they find themselves frustrated and running late.
As a motor officer working traffic enforcement every day, I would like to offer a few suggestions to keep your daily driving a little less stressful, and hopefully reduce some of the aggressive driving we see each day.
We write a lot of citations, and take a lot of traffic collision reports around schools between start time and 20 minutes before, and then again between release time and 20 minutes after school lets out. If you drive around schools during these times you can pretty much guess why this is happening. Drivers are taking unnecessary chances and driving aggressively because they got stuck in school traffic and ended up running late.
When we speak at school functions, or talk to motorists, we always encourage parents and students to try and arrive at school 30 minutes prior to start time. As traffic enforcement officers, that is when we usually show up to work traffic around the school and the streets are empty. Students and parents can drive right up to the school, park, and/or drop off with no traffic whatsoever. Same after school. If you can leave just 30 minutes after school lets out, you would see a huge difference in traffic congestion. This is especially true around high schools where we have a mix of student driver’s and parents on the streets.
Parents often express concern about the safety of their children at school 30 minutes prior to start and 30 minutes after release. Each school in the Murrieta Unified School District has staff on campus, and the campus is open to students during this time. Your child can get onto the campus and use the time to study or socialize, and you are in and out with no stress.
Give this a try and see if it makes a difference for you as you try to safely get to and from school.
The Murrieta Police Department appreciates all the support our community gives us throughout the year. This is an awesome community. We enjoy living here and consider it an honor to serve the citizens of Murrieta in our chosen profession of Law Enforcement. I welcome your questions and suggestions for future articles and can be contacted directly at the Murrieta Police Department at 951-461-6302 or
