TULSA, Okla. — Parents are pleading with drivers to slow down when school zone warning lights flash on 71st Street.
"I don't understand why there's such a disregard of a school zone," said Jennifer Phillips.
"There are certain things you can control," said Caleb Howell. "Speed is one of them."
Howell works the traffic enforcement area that includes Thoreau.
"Some days, we'll only catch one or two," he said. "But unfortunately, there are mornings where it's back-to-back-to-back."
The maximum speed in a school zone is 25 miles per hour during posted times or if warning lights are flashing if the zone has flashers.
No exceptions.
For Thoreau Principal Tabitha Arreola it's simple.
"I just need the safety of my scholars valued above all other distraction," she said.
So, when a mom came to our Tulsa State Fair listening booth frustrated by school zone speeders in front of Thoreau Demonstration Academy, we dug into Tulsa Municipal Court Records.
We found 82 "speeding in a school zone" tickets issued inside the one mile stretch of East 71st Street between Sheridan and Memorial between 2022 and the start of this school year. Most of that area is inside the school zone for Thoreau.
Breaking down tickets in that area block-by-block reveals:
7300 block:
- 5 tickets
- speeds ranging from 34-44 mph
- fines ranging from $250 to $350
7400 block:
- 19 tickets
- speeds ranging from 34 to 51 mph
- fines ranging from $250 to $400
7500 block:
- 32 tickets
- speeds ranging from 34 to 54 mph
- fines ranging from %150 to $500
7600 block:
- 4 tickets
- speeds ranging from 34 to 54 mph
- fines ranging from $250 to $400
7700 block:
- 21 tickets
- speeds ranging from 34 to 57 mph
- fines ranging from $150 to $500
7800 block:
- 1 ticket
- speed 34 mph
- fine $250
In 2019 and 2020 we also investigated school zone speeders in front of Thoreau.
- 2019: 230 citations for speeding during the school year.
- 2020: 226 citations in the Covid shortened 7 month school year which accounted for nearly half of Tulsa's grand total of speeding in school zone tickets for that year.
If you have concerns about speeders in school zones where your children go to school:
- contact local law enforcement
- contact your school district police department
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