IN less than one month 62 motorists have been caught speeding through school zones across the Central West, new data shows.
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Following the summer break, most students returned to school for another year on January 29 and on that day 40km/h zones came back into force to protect children.
Despite the risk of accidents and serious injuries, not to mention the risk of fines and the loss of licence, many motorists have continued to speed near schools.
Of the 62 motorists who were caught driving too fast, 38 were nabbed in the Hume Police District followed by 18 in the Orana Mid Western region and six in Chifley.
As of late February, no speeding motorists had been caught in school zones across the Central West and Central North police districts.
Western Region Traffic Tactician Inspector Ben Macfarlane said there was no excuse for not knowing you were driving through a school zone.
"It's disappointing considering how nearly all of them [school zones] have flashing orange lights," he said.
Inspector Macfarlane said the results of speeding through a school zone could be disastrous and he has called on all motorists to pay attention.
"The job is driving and nothing else, kids can be very distracting when you're dropping off and picking up but driving should be your number one job."
The NSW Government has ensured that every school in NSW has at least one set of school zone flashing lights, the Centre for Road Safety's website states.
"More than 6000 school zone flashing lights are in place across NSW to warn motorists when they are about to enter a 40km/h school zone," it reads.