What does the school zone sign mean?

This sign marks the start of a zone on a street you drive along every day. What does it ask of you?

To slow down and expect a child to step out without looking

Children judge speed and distance badly and step out from between parked vehicles with no warning. The zone exists to buy you stopping distance, which is why your speed matters more here than almost anywhere else on your route.

You pass this sign on a weekday morning. What changes about the way you drive?

You slow to the reduced limit for the zone and watch the edges of the road

The reduced limit applies right through the zone during the hours it covers, whether or not a child is in sight at that moment. Children step out from between parked cars and misjudge how fast traffic is closing, and the lower speed exists to shorten your stopping distance for the one you did not see.

This sign appears at the roadside on a weekday morning. What does it mark?

A school area where children may be crossing and a lower limit applies

This sign opens a school area, where a lower limit applies during the days and hours shown on the plate under it. Slow to that limit and watch for children stepping out from between parked vehicles, because they judge speed and distance poorly and often cannot see over a parked car anyway.

This sign marks the start of a zone beside a school in Quebec, where it may be lettered ZONE SCOLAIRE. A lower speed is posted with it, along with the days and hours it applies. What governs your speed here?

The lower speed, during the days and hours shown, whether or not you can see any children

The posted hours are the rule, and seeing no children does not suspend it, because a child can come out of a doorway in the second after you look. The hours are set for the times when children arrive and leave in numbers. The limit covers the full width of the road, in both directions.

You are inside a zone marked by this sign and the vehicle in front of you has stopped for no reason you can see. What is the most likely explanation and the right response?

Someone small is crossing where you cannot see, so hold back and wait

Near a school the vehicle in front of you is usually stopping for a child who is hidden from your view by that very vehicle. Pulling around it removes the only warning you were given and puts your car exactly where the child is heading.

This sign marks a zone you drive through on a Sunday afternoon. Does the reduced speed apply?

No, a school zone limit applies on school days during the hours the sign shows

A school zone limit is tied to school days and to the hours on the sign, and that is what separates it from a playground zone. The ordinary limit for the road applies at other times, although the sightlines around a school stay poor and a lower speed is still the sensible choice.