Despite the increase in traffic that comes each August with the reintroduction of school buses on the road, you shouldn’t regret taking your time to get to work on your morning drive.

National organizations are encouraging motorists to mind school traffic and reminding pedestrians to be aware of their surroundings.

AAA’s East Central region is launching its annual “School’s Open, Drive Carefully” campaign, encouraging parents to talk about the importance of school zone safety with their children and teen drivers. The campaign urges motorists to take extra caution when traveling through school zones or near school buses, especially during before- and after-school hours.

As many drivers have no doubt noticed, Butler County has numerous school zones where traffic has to slow down to 15 mph when lights are flashing. It may seem frustrating to hit the brakes to go from up to 55 mph all the way down to what feels like a snail’s pace. However, the slower speed is for a good reason. With school buses turning in and out of school driveways — often taking more time than the average vehicle because of the turn angle they need to take because of their size — the lower speed is safer for everyone.

And how much time does a short stint at 15 mph really add to a commute? Many drivers are used to moving at least at the designated speed limit of a road, but a slowdown for a short time and for a good reason is not going to set you back that much.

Maybe take the physical slow down to slow down your mind as well and reflect on your journey to work. Look out the side window at the school while passing and think back to your own days in whatever grade level of students the school hosts. Think about how at that age, your wish was simply to even get behind the wheel of a car to see what it was like, speed not even a factor in your grade school mind.

In that school-aged fantasy, you probably were not wishing you were driving to work, but that’s probably where you are headed on your early morning journey. Might as well enjoy the drive as much as you can by slowing down.

— ET