LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Students across Greater Lafayette will be returning to school in just over 24 hours.

It's been 5 months since school buses have ran bus routes across the community. Now, local law enforcement is reminding drivers to be aware of marked school zones and pedestrians.

Lafayette Jeff's School Resource Officer Mark Roberts said drivers need to be on the lookout for flashing yellow lights, indicating an active school zone.

When the lights are flashing, a reduced speed limit is in place.

Most zones across Greater Lafayette are limited to 20 miles per hour during these times.

Roberts said following the posted speed reduces the risk of accidents. 

"You have more vehicular traffic dropping their kids off and you have more foot traffic walking to school. So we don't want someone not to be paying attention, driving too fast," said Roberts. "We have a lot of kids who walk to school and unfortunately not all the kids cross at the intersections where they're supposed to. So we try to get everybody to slow down just to be on the lookout for the kids crossing the streets."

Roberts said the Lafayette Police Department plans to have more officers enforcing school zone speed limits over the next few weeks.

Speeds will be reduced from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning and 2:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon within Lafayette.

Tippecanoe School Corporation and West Lafayette Community School Corporation's school zones will also be in effect during the morning and afternoon.