AUSTIN, TX -- Put the phone down and slow down. Austin Independent School District kids head back to school on Monday. Police will be there too.
Mom Dian Beltran will have a busy day on Monday. She has to drive five kids to four different schools.
"I'll be running around until about 9:30,” she said.
One of her stops is Brooke Elementary off East 5th Street and Tillery in East Austin.
It is so close that a crosswalk sign is in her yard. However, she feels it is too dangerous for her kids to make the short walk.
"They're probably going about 45 through these neighborhoods just because they're in a rush," Beltran said. "There's so much traffic with Pleasant Valley and Cesar Chavez."
Austin Police Lt. Ely Reyes says a lot of other parents feel the same way,"They don't even feel comfortable walking their own child to school.”
Brooke Elementary tops the Austin school district when it comes to complaints about people speeding and using cell phones in school zones.
During the first two weeks of school, officers will be at campuses ticketing drivers who may have forgotten the rules over the summer.
"Some of the schools will just consist of the motor officers doing enforcement action such as speeding and using cell phones. Some of the other locations will have officers in plain clothes,” Reyes said.
Officers plan to hit eight to 15 schools a day.
Last school year, Austin police issued more than 5,400 tickets for speeding in school zones,
1,800 drivers were ticketed for using a cell phone, and 141 drivers got a ticket for passing a school bus.
"Drivers should know that they're coming through a school zone,” Reyes said. “The lights are flashing, and they're responsible for complying with the law. So if an officer writes them a ticket and they don't like it, they're going to have to contest it in court."
In addition to the threat of an expensive ticket, mom Dian hopes drivers will think of her little ones.
"Just slow down and be careful,” Beltran said.
