Back-to-school traffic is returning. Are school zones ready?

As millions of students prepare to return to school in August and September, cities and transportation agencies across the United States are renewing efforts to improve road safety around schools. The timing lines up with a wave of summer anti-speeding campaigns, which highlight one of the biggest risks facing children – as traffic volumes increase during the back-to-school season.

Why school zones remain high-risk environments

Despite speed limits, school zones remain high-risk areas for drivers and vulnerable road users alike. Unpredictable pedestrian crossings, reduced visibility, and heavy traffic all contribute to poor traffic safety conditions. An estimated 161,478 children were injured in traffic crashes in 2023, according to NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts.

Several factors make school zones particularly challenging to navigate safely:

Children are particularly vulnerable pedestrians. Their small stature, unpredictable movements, and difficulty in judging danger significantly increase the risk of crashes. According to NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, Children aged 14 and under accounted for 2% of fatalities
Parking near schools reduces visibility. Frequent short-term stops encourage risky behaviors such as double parking or blocking cycle lanes and pavements, or even crosswalks. These practices reduce pedestrian safety and endanger all road users, especially during the start and end of the school day.
Many drivers do not adhere to speed limits, increasing the likelihood and severity of crashes around schools.

A 3-step approach to improving school-zone safety

Step 1: Understand where risks occur:

Before cities can improve safety around schools, they need to understand where and when risks are highest. Traffic and mobility data can help authorities identify high-risk situations, determine where crashes are most likely to occur, and proactively detect locations where future risks may emerge—even if incidents have not yet happened.

For example, this data can help to:

Measure traffic volumes during drop-off and pick-up periods
Analyze vehicle speeds and driving patterns
Identify parking-related visibility hazards near crosswalks
Map common routes used by children and families
Use predictive analytics to pinpoint areas where traffic patterns, road design, or behavioral factors indicate an elevated likelihood of future safety incidents

Rather than relying on assumptions, historical crash data alone, or broad policies, this approach helps cities focus resources on the locations where they can have the greatest impact—addressing risks before they result in injuries or accidents.

Step 2: Measure actual driver behavior

Understanding risk is only the first step. Cities also need to understand how drivers are behaving once they enter school zones. The Wramborg Scale highlights the relationship between vehicle speed and pedestrian survival. A child struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mph has a significantly greater chance of survival than one struck at 30 mph, demonstrating why even small reductions in speed can have a major safety impact.

This is why measuring actual vehicle speeds—not just posted speed limits—is critical. Data can help cities:

Analyze actual travel speeds in school zones
Identify speeding hotspots
Detect sudden acceleration and braking events
Understand how driving behavior changes throughout the day

Even small reductions in speed can shorten braking distances, improve driver reaction times, and significantly reduce injury severity.

Step 3: Test targeted interventions and measure results

Once risk patterns and driver behaviors have been identified, cities can implement targeted solutions designed to address specific issues.Potential interventions include:

Traffic-calming measures such as speed bumps and roundabouts
Parking and traffic-flow changes
Improved signage and crossings

In The Wilmington area of Los Angeles, MICHELIN Mobility Intelligence used mobility data to identify school-area locations with frequent sudden acceleration events and other indicators of risky driving behavior.

This test-and-learn approach allows cities to evaluate solutions before making larger infrastructure investments while measuring their impact. Using before-and-after analysis, cities can assess changes in speed, driver behavior, traffic flow and pedestrian safety.
In Wilmington, the results were encouraging. Following the implementation of the temporary measures, analysis showed a 61% decrease in sudden braking events and a 3-mph reduction in vehicle speeds.

These insights provide a more complete view of road safety than speed limits alone. By combining mobility data with targeted interventions, cities can make informed decisions about which measures to expand and how to create safer routes for children over the long term.
As communities prepare for the new school year, road safety programs have an opportunity to move beyond awareness campaigns alone. Combining anti-speeding initiatives with data-driven analysis can help cities identify risks, implement targeted improvements, and create safer journeys for children throughout the school year.

To find out more about these solutions, please contact the MICHELIN Mobility Intelligence teams directly.

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