Police and school officials worry that drivers who speed through school zones put children at risk.

How serious are their concerns? 12 News bought a radar gun and clocked drivers at various school zones in Harrison County.

We found multiple vehicles speeding along Route 98 in Clarksburg, near the entrance to Robert C. Byrd High School. One driver on Route 98 was driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Principal Leon Pilewski said he suspects many speeders are new drivers on their way to class.

"They may be running a little bit behind," Pilewski said. "Their tendency is to rush a little bit. They're not as observant, and that could lead to some problems."

At least the high school itself is far from the busy highway. That's not the case in Nutter Fort, where hundreds of drivers commute to work past the elementary school right on Buckhannon Pike.

"There are people who are running late for work," says Nutter Fort Police Patrolman Jeff Davisson. "They tend to overlook the presence of us and the actual school zone itself."

Each morning the Nutter Fort Police monitor the 15 mile per hour zone. With so much traffic, police say its difficult to know how everyone's driving.

We decided to find out for ourselves. With the assistance of the police we clocked several cars with a radar gun. We found some cars going 25 mph, that 10 miles over the speed limit. It wasn't enough for those cars to be pulled over, why?

"To be able to enforce that you would have to stop 8 to 10 cars at a time," says Davisson. He says overall, drivers do obey the school zone, capping their speed off at around 17 miles per hour. Police say think about the cost. Tickets range anywhere from $100 to $500-dollars depending on the circumstances. Points added to your license could spell trouble in the future.