Schools

Officers Ticket 150 Drivers in Soquel School Zones

The BADGES program was at work in Soquel last month.

About 150 tickets were given out in the areas surrounding Soquel schools over the last month thanks to the diligence of the BADGES program, CHP Officer Sarah Jackson said.

BADGES (Before Aggressive Driving Gets Everyone Stopped) is a cooperative traffic safety effort that targets a different area each month. In August, officers from Watsonville PD, Scotts Valley PD, Capitola PD, Santa Cruz PD and CHP banded together in Soquel to watch the school zones. 

They netted 150 tickets, Jackson said, including citations for speeding, violating right-of-way, red light violations, distracted driving, blocking the "keep clear" zone and more.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"One man was cited by a Capitola Police Officer for screeching his tires during acceleration near Soquel Elementary and then by a CHP officer two hours later for speeding on Soquel Drive near State Park Drive," Jackson said.

Some school zones in California have speed limits as low as 15 miles per hours.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We would like to remind motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians to exercise caution and leave extra time for their morning commute, however short or long it may be," Jackson said. 

Do you see people driving unsafely in school zones? Did you notice the increased enforcement in August? Tell us in the comments!

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