Reader comments: Layton expands road for students' safety
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Here are the Facts | 11:38 a.m. Aug. 25, 2008
Hey Anonymous,
The traffic issue is a city issue. Neither the school nor the school district has jurisdiction over vehicular traffic.
Utah Code states that cities are the entities that have authority over roadways. The Utah Supreme Court also addressed the issue of responsibility to provide school crossing guards, stating, "The District does not qualify as a 'local authority' ... because it cannot enact traffic laws" (Young v. Salt Lake City Sch. Dist. 52 P.3d 1230 (Utah 2002).
The district and school also cannot hire crossing guards because the law doesn't allow it to control traffic. Cities have that control and they are the entities who hire crossing guards.
So, no matter what the paper claims regarding district concerns about insurance, the district has no authority to send volunteers or anyone else into thoroughfares in which it has no jurisdiction to control traffic.
The traffic issue is a city issue. Neither the school nor the school district has jurisdiction over vehicular traffic.
Utah Code states that cities are the entities that have authority over roadways. The Utah Supreme Court also addressed the issue of responsibility to provide school crossing guards, stating, "The District does not qualify as a 'local authority' ... because it cannot enact traffic laws" (Young v. Salt Lake City Sch. Dist. 52 P.3d 1230 (Utah 2002).
The district and school also cannot hire crossing guards because the law doesn't allow it to control traffic. Cities have that control and they are the entities who hire crossing guards.
So, no matter what the paper claims regarding district concerns about insurance, the district has no authority to send volunteers or anyone else into thoroughfares in which it has no jurisdiction to control traffic.
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If a kid does get run-over and the district had done nothing to prevent it, they still will be sued for being negligent in putting up reasonable safety measures. Seeing as how two kids were already hit, the precedent for a crossing guard has been established. Next child hit wins the lottery.