TISDALE — The Tisdale RCMP is asking the public to be more cautious in school zones.
“There have been some concerns brought to us,” said Sgt. Daryl Andrusiak, the Tisdale RCMP's commanding officer. “We still have issues going on so all we can do is try to pound it into people to try to get a better understanding of it.”
The main concern they have for school zones is speed.
“We did have a couple reports of what people viewed as a higher than acceptable speed, higher than the 30 kilometres an hour,” Andrusiak said. “Granted they weren’t caught on radar, but people have a pretty good idea what 30 kilometres an hour should look like.”
Another issue is the stopping at the stop sign arms on the buses.
“A stop is a stop, right? It’s a moving stop sign,” Andrusiak said. “When it’s engaged you can’t just slow down and pull off to the side... Until that stop sign is moved in, you cannot move your vehicle.”
The sign requires you to stop five metres from the rear or front of the bus
“The stop sign is out because there is going to be kids exiting the bus, possibly crossing the street to take their route home so that’s the reason it’s out there, for the kids’ safety.”
The fine for failing to stop is $360. The fine for failing to yield at a crosswalk is $230.
“There are a number of other things that would come into play. Obviously don’t use your electronic equipment,” Andrusiak said. “People continue to do it for whatever reason and many have just been lucky at this point that it hasn’t caused an accident or a serious injury of some sort. There’s no excuse for it, plain and simple.”
That carries a fine of $280.
Andrusiak would also like to remind people about keeping their windshield visible.
“It’s not just a cracked up windshield, you can be charged for having a frosted up windshield you can’t see out of.”
