It's that time of year: summer is drawing to a close, which means that in McLean and across Virginia, students have either started classes again or about to resume. It's an exciting time for parents and children, but also a time that calls for motorists to be extra cautious in and near school zones to avoid child pedestrian accidents and injuries.

Traffic safety experts say that if drivers follow a few simple rules during school years, kids going to and from schools can be kept safe.

If you drive southwest of McLean for about seven hours, you'll arrive in St. Paul, Virginia. The small town was recently the site of a tractor-trailer crash in which the big rig apparently blew through a red light and then struck four vehicles.

The 18-wheeler wound up upside-down in the Clinch River, a news report stated. The truck driver was injured in the crash, though his condition was unknown at the time of the report. Motorists in three other vehicles were fortunate to survive with just minor injuries.

School is out in McLean and across Virginia. For many high school students, that means it’s time to hit the road in vehicles packed with friends in search of adventure. Unfortunately, that combination of factors too often leads to motor vehicle crashes and injuries – sometimes even fatalities.

More than 120 teens from 37 high schools and middle schools across Virginia arrived at the beginning of this week for educational and hands-on activities to help them learn not only safe driving practices, but also the importance to them, their friends and to everyone they share the road with of making responsible driving decisions.

The Road To Zero winds through McLean and every corner of Virginia. It extends north to Maine, south to Florida, north to Minnesota and west to California – and every place in between. The Road To Zero Coalition is a group of transportation industry leaders who have joined the National Safety Council in its effort to reduce traffic accidents, injuries and fatalities. The group’s uber-ambitious goal is to get motor vehicle fatalities all the way down to zero by 2050.

National Safety Council CEO Deborah Hersman invokes the memory of President Kennedy and his remarkable early 1960s challenge to land on the moon by the end of the decade. At the time, the lofty goal was considered by most people impossible. But by 1969, it was a reality.