Battlefords MLA Herb Cox says recommendations are the next step following hearings this summer by a bipartisan legislative committee looking into traffic safety in the province.
Cox is a member of that committee, along with Sask. Party MLAs Darryl Hickie, Roger Parent, Warren Steinley and Nadine Wilson, as well as NDP MLAs Danielle Chartier and Doyle Vermette. The goal was to consider and report on ways to improve traffic safety and reduce the number of accidents on the roads.
Those hearings across the province have wrapped up. Cox says the committee has finished their draft and once that is prepared, it will be discussed at caucus in August. He expects the final recommendations to come out Aug. 31.
The basic feedback the committee got, said Cox, is "they want some tightening up of some regulations. The parameters we looked at were speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, dangerous intersections and wildlife."
Wildlife has been a growing issue due to the increasing amount of animals, particularly moose, seen on roads and colliding with vehicles. To deal with wildlife, Cox said "a lot of groups suggested more mowing of the ditches, things like that."
Also, Cox said, "we're going to toughen up some regulations with respect to dangerous driving and distracted driving. Those final recommendations are going to come out in August, whatever they may be."
Cox made his remarks on traffic safety July 9 as his riding hosted a Saskatchewan Party barbecue attended by himself and Premier Brad Wall, who was in the community that day. Wall had earlier been at a book launch for Saskatchewan Hospital's centennial and also visited the offices of SIIT in downtown North Battleford.
In speaking to the News-Optimist, Premier Wall made clear traffic safety was an issue his government was considering seriously.
"We've seen some very, very unsettling numbers," said Wall. "We need to remember that behind all of these statistics are people, Saskatchewan families, who are devastated by losses on our highways, deaths on our highways, accidents."
The other thing Wall wants to see is to "make sure that we've reviewed existing traffic safety laws, driving under the influence and we've had an orange zone debate in this province and made some changes there, so I think it's just right that we send MLAs in a bipartisan way - NDP and Sask Party MLAs - to go out, talk to people and stakeholders about what we can do to improve, to reduce the accidents and improve safety on the highways."
Wall expects there will be recommendations for legislation change that will come with the traffic safety committee's report "and we'll be open to all of them whatever they propose."
