Extend school
speed zone

The school speed zone on Powell Boulevard needs to be extended to include areas near Whiteville High School.

A car struck a 15-year-old high school student last week as he attempted to cross Powell Boulevard near the stop light at Burkhead Street.

It’s a miracle a student hasn’t been killed along this stretch. On any given school day, students can be seen in the flow of traffic. Granted, some are jaywalking, but young people aren’t always going to take the safest route.

The Whiteville Police Department has been diligent in patrolling the school speed zone near Central Middle School, where the speed limit drops from 45 to 25 miles per hour. Most of the benefit, however, is to motorists trying to cross the busy thoroughfare after dropping off students at Central.

A far greater number of students cross Powell Boulevard near Whiteville High School. Most of these crossings occur at Burkhead Street or Williamson Street to the north, but the speed limit is 45 miles per hour.

The school system, city officials and the Department of Transportation should work to designate this area as a school speed zone. While some motorists may find it aggravating to slow to 25 miles per hour on a road designed to handle speeds nearly twice that, the risk of another student being seriously or fatally injured is too great not to do otherwise.