End-of-year school zone wake-up call

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Summer break is just around the corner, but Austin police are giving drivers a refresher course in school zone safety.

They are ramping up patrols near schools across the city during April and May and zeroing in on the following laws:

• Drivers on cell phones
• Speeding in a school zone
• Passing a school bus
• Ignoring crossing guards

Since the initiative started last week, police have issued 50 tickets for all the offenses listed above.

Cell phone use in school zones is the newest law. On the first day of school this year, not all Austin schools had the "no cell phone" signs posted, so some drivers had a longer grace period.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said one in four accidents in Texas involve someone either texting or driving on a cell phone.

Getting caught doing either in a school zone can cost drivers up to $200.

Police enforcement in school zones will be ramped up particularly during the morning hours.

Austin police have set a press conference Monday morning outside Pecan Springs Elementary in East Austin on their stepped-up enforcement.