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Officials urge drivers to slow down as Savannah-Chatham County prepares to welcome students
Summary
Officials from Savannah-Chatham County, AAA and state safety agencies launched the annual "Schools Open—Drive Carefully" campaign, warning of increased enforcement, legal penalties for illegally passing buses and urging motorists to reduce distractions as students return next week.
Officials from Savannah-Chatham County, AAA and state safety agencies urged motorists Thursday to slow down and avoid distractions as the 2025–26 school year begins, announcing stepped-up enforcement and renewing a public-safety campaign ahead of students’ return next week.
Garrett Townsend, a representative of AAA, said the local outreach is part of AAA’s long-running Schools Open—Drive Carefully campaign. “This campaign actually has been in existence since 1946,” Townsend said, noting the effort partners AAA with local school districts to remind drivers about school-zone safety.
The campaign targets both local and statewide risks: Superintendent Denise Watts said the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System will welcome about 35,000 students next week, roughly 3,000 of whom do not ride a school bus and may walk or bike to school. “We ask that you start having conversations,” Superintendent Denise Watts said, urging parents to plan earlier departures and to rehearse safe routes with young or new drivers.
Law enforcement officials said the campaign combines education with enforcement. Chief Terry Enoch of the Board of Education Police Department said communities and police will work together to keep school zones safe. “This is more than a traffic campaign. It's a community commitment,” Chief Enoch said, and warned drivers to “slow down, stay alert, and drive responsibly.”
Angela Upshaw of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety reviewed the state rule for passing school buses and reminded drivers that the law requires stopping when a bus on the same roadway displays its stop lights and extended stop arm. Upshaw said a physical barrier such as a grass median separates traffic and changes the requirement: “If a grass median is separating you from that school bus, you do not have to stop when the school bus lights are activated and the school bus stop arm is extended.” She also advised drivers to program navigation devices before driving and to obey posted school-zone speed limits.
Lieutenant Carlisle of the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division highlighted statewide enforcement trends and recent legislation. Officials cited a Georgia estimate that a school bus is illegally passed up to 9,000 times a school day — about 1,600,000 times in a 180-day school year — and warned of heightened penalties under a law passed in July 2024 commonly referred to in remarks as Addie’s Law. “It is now a high and aggravated misdemeanor should you pass a stop school bus. This is punishable by minimum of a $1,000 fine, 12 months in jail, and 6 months on your license,” Lieutenant Carlisle said.
Speakers offered practical reminders for drivers and families: slow down in flashing school zones, eliminate distractions, respect crossing guards and crosswalks, stop for buses when required, and model safe driving behavior for children. Garrett Townsend recommended preparing teens who are new drivers to navigate school zones and bus stops carefully. Townsend also noted survey findings he cited about risky behaviors, saying roughly 41 percent of Georgians admitted to driving over the speed limit in active school zones and 28 percent admitted to holding a cell phone in a school zone (figures cited by Townsend as self-reported survey results).
Board President Roger Moss, speaking for the local board, urged patience during the first weeks of school: “When the bus is stopped, stop,” Moss said, and asked drivers to start their days earlier to avoid rushed driving.
Organizers said drivers will encounter increased patrols, active speed cameras and crossing guards in school areas during arrival and dismissal periods. The event emphasized the shared role of schools, law enforcement, parents and drivers in preventing crashes and keeping students safe.
No formal votes or policy changes were taken at the event; speakers announced the campaign and enforcement posture and encouraged community cooperation as students return to classrooms next week.
