Las Vegas Review-Journal

August 10, 2026 - 9:00 pm

Readers of a certain age will remember Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) delivering his iconic line each week on “Hill Street Blues.” After roll call but before dismissing officers onto the streets for their shifts, he cautioned, “Hey, let’s be careful out there.”

The sentiment applies to Clark County’s streets as students return to class this week. It’s good advice for local drivers and for students themselves as they make their way to school.

Last school year, the Clark County School District reported 427 collisions involving children near school campuses, a 356 percent increase from the previous year. Two students were killed in October 2025, one after being hit by a school bus and another while riding a bicycle.

Part of the increase in accidents can be attributed to the popularity of e-bikes and scooters. Many of the incidents involved such devices and statistics reveal that the student riders — not the motorists — were at fault in about half the cases.

Nevertheless, with the summer break coming to an end for students and school zones again active, local drivers should exhibit a renewed sense of caution. If they don’t, they risk facing financial — and potentially tragic — consequences. The Metropolitan Police Department and the district police have vowed to be more aggressive in enforcing school zone traffic laws.

“We’ll be citing. We’ll be zero tolerance right from the first day of school,” Michael Campbell of the school district’s police force told Fox 5 News. District superintendent Jhone Ebert also weighed in. “Quite frankly, we need people to slow down around our schools,” she told the station. “People need to be aware of the rules of the road. They need to slow down, and we wouldn’t need more officers.”

The new school year also brings new start times that district officials hope will be more conducive to student learning. Middle school students will begin class at 7:30 a.m., while high school students won’t start until 8:30 a.m. and elementary school kids until 9:15 a.m.

The district has struggled to retain students in recent years, as changing demographics and alternatives such as charter schools have become more popular among parents. Yet it remains the fifth-biggest district in the nation, with about 287,000 kids attending about 370 campuses during the 2025-26 calendar year. District parents would be wise to take an active role in the schooling of their children and demand high standards from teachers and administrators. Anything less sets students up for failure.

And as parents, students and local drivers become accustomed to new school start times and traffic patterns throughout the valley, Sgt. Esterhaus’s gentle advice rings true: Let’s be careful out there.