Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Deputy Chief Gus Paidousis joined today with Knox County Schools Deputy Superintendent Roy Mullins in announcing back to school traffic enforcement plans for the start of the 2004-2005 school year. Knox County students return to school on Thursday, August 12, 2004.

Deputy Chief Paidousis said the department will have officers posted in every school zone within the Knoxville city limits as students go to and return home from school. The special enforcement measures will continue for the first seven days of the school year.

Deputy Chief Paidousis said, "Officers from the patrol unit, motorcycle unit, and other specialty units from within the department will work to prevent student injuries or deaths by vigorously enforcing school zone speed limits."

Motorists who are cited for speeding within a designated school zone can be fined up to $147.25 including court costs. Up to six points will also be posted to the violator's personal driving record by the State of Tennessee. Accumulation of twelve points can result in the suspension of driving privileges in Tennessee.

Mayor Haslam said, "We urge all motorists to slow down and exercise extreme caution while driving in neighborhoods and school zones. It takes everyone doing their part to help protect our most precious resource, our children."

Deputy Superintendent Roy Mullins added, "On any given school day we have thousands of parents and over 350 school buses delivering over 52,000 students to 86 different schools. School buses in Knox County travel over 17,000 miles everyday. That's a lot of movement - especially when the rest of Knoxville is trying to get to work or get home at the same time."

"As with anything we do, the safety and security of our students is our paramount concern, and traffic management is one of our greatest challenges in this respect. We are extremely grateful for the efforts of the city and the Knoxville Police Department in helping us get all of our students to school and back home safely," Mullins concluded.