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The question What do, "X speed limit while children are present", street signs mean, specifically? has an upvoted answer indicating that the "When children are present" speed limit varies by jurisdiction.

This question, in response, is specifically for one jurisdiction: California. What is the meaning of "when children are present" on speed limit signs (non-flashing)? Does it refer to only tehe periods where children are visibly present? Or school hours? Or when there is an after-school football game? How is one to ascertain the presence or absence of children from the school under Californian law?

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  • The existence of these (totally reasonable) questions illustrate how extraordinarily ill-advised it is to have complicated conditions on traffic signals that need to be clearly understandable and actionable within a fraction of a second when driving by. I totally see the good intentions behind it, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions...
    – user2705196
    Commented May 22, 2022 at 14:33
  • If there is a speed limit “when children are present” and you drive along when children may or may not be present, it’s common sense to slow down to make sure you don’t break the speed limit.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 6:17
  • @user2705196 indeed. When I was a kid in New Jersey the school speed limit sign had flashing lights. The digits indicating the lower limit were also lights, so they could not be read when the sign was turned off. It's much easier to process such a sign in a fraction of a second.
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 8:26
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    @gnasher729 Because it is always the case that children may or may not be present your common sense advice translates into always obeying the specified speed as a speed limit. Presumably that was not the intention of the sign. Otherwise they would have just used a general speed limit sign (although a general speed limit sign may arguably be a better solution indeed but is not the chosen solution...)
    – user2705196
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 14:45
  • @user2705196 Yes. This is another great illustration of why comments about what is "common sense" are generally useless in a forum like this.
    – bdb484
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 5:14

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Well, the online California DMV Laws and Rules of the Road says this:

When driving within 500 to 1,000 feet of a school while children are outside or crossing the street, the speed limit is 25 mph unless otherwise posted. Also, if the school grounds have no fence and children are outside, never drive faster than 25 mph. Some school zones may have speed limits as low as 15 mph.

Not really as clear as we might like. I personally follow the posted speed limit during school hours when school is in session, even if there are no kids outside the school building and yards. I don't know if a parent is picking up a kid for an appointment or because they're sick and might be crossing the street. The schools in my area have tiny parking lots and people end up parking on the street even though there's no crosswalk in the area (there is one at a stop light a long block away--no one bothers to use it, just jaywalks instead).

Mainly, I don't want to have to argue with a police officer on whether I'm allowed to speed at that instance in time.

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  • Crossing outside of a crosswalk is not always jaywalking.
    – phoog
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 8:22

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