Walking Along a Roadway (Type I hazard)

Section 556 Section 556.120  Walking Along a Roadway (Type I hazard) a)         A serious Type I safety hazard exists if the total of the points from the tables and any judgment points equals or exceeds 12 and the situation qualifies for points from at least Tables 1, 2 and 5.  The situation is not disqualified if no points are obtained from Tables 3 and 4.  School districts should add judgment points if found proper even though the points from the tables alone equal or exceed 12. b)         Determination of serious safety hazard. 1)         Factors to be considered.  The following factors are relevant in determining whether children walking along a roadway are endangered by a serious safety hazard:  grade of pupil, location of walkway in relation to roadway, speed of traffic, volume of traffic and length of hazardous sections.  To determine whether a serious safety hazard exists in a particular situation, a school board shall assign points as appropriate for these factors using the following tables (fractional points may be assigned only in accordance with the tables): A)        Grade of Pupil – Table 1 GRADE POINTS K-8 5 9-12 2 B)        Location of Walkway – Table 2 LOCATION DIST. BETWEEN EDGES OF ROADWAY AND WALK* POINTS Walkway on Shoulder (no curb present) Less than 5 Ft. 5 Ft. – 10 Ft. 3 1 Walkway Behind Curb or Ditch Less than 4 Ft. 4 Ft. – 8 Ft. 2 0.5 *   Pupils walking immediately adjacent to the roadway on a walkway less than 2 feet in width are considered to be walking on the roadway. C)        Speed of Traffic – Table 3 SPEED (MPH) POINTS 50-55 4 40-45 2 30-35 0.5 D)        Volume of Traffic – Table 4 HOURLY VOLUME POINTS 2-Lane 4-Lane Greater than 1500 5 4 1200-1500 4 3 800-1199 3 2 400-799 2 1 100-399 1 0.5 E)        Length of Hazardous Section – Table 5 DISTANCE   (MILES) POINTS Greater than 1.0 2 0.8 – 1.0 1.5 0.5 – 0.7 1 0.2 – 0.4 0.5 2)         Judgment points.  A school district may add one or two points for judgment factors peculiar to the hazards due to vehicular traffic in a specific situation.  These additions must be accompanied by adequate information to justify the special circumstances being considered. 3)         Examples: A)        Pupils going to an elementary school with pupils through 5th grade, on a walkway 4' from the roadway on a shoulder, along a 2-lane road posted 50 m.p.h., with an hourly average volume of 500 vehicles, for a distance of  ½ mile, would have the following points: 5(Table 1) + 3(Table 2) + 4(Table 3) + 2(Table 4) + 1(Table 5) = 15 Since the point total (15) exceeds 12, the situation qualifies for all pupils at the school. B)        Pupils going to an elementary school with pupils through 6th grade, on a walkway 3' from a 4-lane roadway that has curbs and is posted at 25 m.p.h., with an hourly average volume of 1300 vehicles, for a distance of 1¼ mile, would have the following points: 5(Table 1) + 2(Table 2) + 0(Table 3) + 3(Table 4) + 2(Table 5) = 12 Since the point total equals 12, the situation qualifies for pupils through 6th grade.  Points from tables 1, 2 and 5 (but not 3 and 4) are required to qualify for this type (Type I) of hazardous situation.