A Jefferson County man was injured after rear-ending a parked car in a Dandridge school zone Tuesday morning.
Police say 45-year-old Charles Clayton Justice was going 15 miles above the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour, just before 8 a.m. It happened on Highway 92 right in front of Dandridge Elementary School.
A Dodge Charger, owned by the Jefferson County School System, was sitting in the fast lane with traffic cones in front of and behind the vehicle. The blue lights were flashing, to direct traffic and lead cars into the slow lane.
Just a few feet from the flashing school zone sign, Dandridge Police say the Justice ran into the back of the parked Charger.
Now, parents and bus drivers are begging people to slow down, saying the flashing school zone signs are a daily reminder to be wary of the road and take their feet off the gas pedal.
"Look at your speeds when you're going into these zones. The safety aspect of it is to take your time, go through the zones at the speed which is posted and stay off of your phones," said school bus driver Gerald Roe, who works with Knoxville Transportation Group.
While the cause of Justice missing the flashing lights and signs is unknown, Roe said he has noticed people speed through school zones because they are distracted.
"It's like everything else," Roe said. "It's distracted driving with the phones and or radios and the mindset not being there once they get behind the wheel of a vehicle."
Using your phone while driving in a school zone is against the law in Tennessee.
Roe works on a bus route in Knox County. He sees people speeding by and ignoring flashing lights and stop signs constantly on his route.
"Every day, it's daily, if you could count just on my bus alone, and I cover quite a bit of area, approximately three to five cars a day will run my stop sign," Roe said.
He wants people to know that they are risking lives when they speed through stops or school zones. It doesn't matter how impatient they may be.
"The yellow and red lights are an indication that we're loading or unloading children, and that it is for your safety and their safety to stop and make sure that nobody gets hurt, injured or dies in this situation," Roe said.
Police cited Justice for speeding in a school zone, failure to exercise due care, following too close, having an expired driver's license and expired registration.