Traffic issues aren't strictly an Estevan problem, but sometimes we need a reminder to be mindful of our driving actions and their potential consequences.
Because we drive so often, we sometimes do it without thought. But even at acceptable speeds these vehicles we drive are incredibly dangerous to children, pedestrians and cyclists, not to mention other motorists.
There are new rules and regulations being unfolded in regards to driving at both a provincial and local level. At the end of June SGI unveiled a slew of stricter rules that we hope will deter some of the driving behavior we see regularly on our roads.
At the local level, the City of Estevan, during a regular meeting of City council on Monday evening, decided to give the penalty for speeding within the city some more teeth. While it doesn't affect most streets in Estevan, the City is rezoning the reduced speed areas to a school zone designation. The speed limits won't change, but the penalties certainly will, with fines roughly doubled for drivers who exceed the limit.
It's also important to note that these speed zones are not meant to protect children only during school hours. As Chief Paul Ladouceur told council, children make use of the school grounds at all hours of the day and throughout the summer. These are zones that feature parks, available for use at any time, so remembering to slow down on these streets is always necessary.
In light of some of these changes, we hope our daily drivers will more thoughtfully consider their driving actions.
We wish to remind everyone that driving is something that requires our full attention and should always be done with a sober head, clear of distraction, anger or substance. We are only finding more ways to distract ourselves from behind the wheel, and again, we encourage everyone to give an adequate amount of thought to how they will behave while driving and how much they will respect other motorists and the community as a whole.
Estevan is only getting busier. As our city grows, the traffic on our busiest streets will increase, and our quiet streets will become steadily less quiet.
Motorists will have less room for error as more cars fill the gaps that used to be on our main thoroughfares. They will have to be more mindful of pedestrians as our walkways become fuller and our street crossings more regularly travelled.
Throughout these summer months we also have to watch carefully for the cyclists who share the road with our motorists but bear much greater risk if a driving mistake is made.
We would also like to remind motorists of the ongoing changes to our streets and to signage. Though you may have driven around this town for decades, there are times when a new stop sign will go up. We've heard excuses from drivers that they have driven through an intersection hundreds of times, where there was no full stop, but though the sign clearly marks a stop, a motorist will drive through because in some ways they are on auto-pilot.
We all have to be attentive drivers, cognizant of the constant changes that occur on our streets at a moment's notice. Thinking about how our actions may impact others before we shift our vehicles out of park will make the city's streets safer.
