Some parents in a Denton school district are hopeful that a two-year battle to lower speed limits outside an elementary school will pay off.
On Tuesday, Denton City Council will consider a measure for a school speed zone outside Pecan Creek Elementary School.
"People don't really know what speed to go," said Natalie Bell, as she walked with her young daughter. "You see people going really slow and people going like 60."
Bell says speeders are common in the neighborhood. She has two children, ages one and four.
"People who don't have kids aren't focusing so much on their speed," Bell said. "They're just trying to get to where they're going."
Other parents whose kids do attend Pecan Creek share those worries.
Christi Shiflett has fought for two years to convince the creation of a school speed zone. Currently, the speed limit in front of the school is 30 miles per hour. She says cars go much faster.
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"There is a recommendation that it be 20 miles per hour, but no one follow that," Shiflett said. "Everyone knows it's a suggestion, rather than an actual speed limit."
The school speed issue is on the agenda for Tuesday's Denton City Council meeting. If approved, violators could face fines of up to $200. Denton police have already increased patrols around the school, pulling over 40 people for exceeding the speed limit in one recent week. Several drivers were traveling above 50 miles per hour.
"We're obviously very cognizant of the school zones, at the beginning of school and when school lets out. So we'll have more standardized patrolling of that area," said officer Shane Kizer, Denton Police Department spokesman.
Parents like Bell think the school speed zone would make their children safer.
"I think that would be a great idea," she said. "People are trying to cross, and it's a little bit scary for the drivers and the pedestrians."
