It's a real concern because it's a real problem in Estevan.
The topic is one we have dealt with numerous times before, but now we have statistics to back up our contention that Estevan drivers are just not paying enough attention to what they're doing and how they're operating their vehicles.
Estevan Police Service personnel issued 29 tickets last week to drivers who were caught disobeying clearly marked speed restriction zones around our city's schools.
We understand that this is a thriving, fast-paced city we live and drive in. This isn't some sleepy little town, so the need for speed is seen as important on many business fronts.
But when it comes down to the safety of our children, 30 km/h is not too much to ask.
At that speed, lives can be saved, not taken.
And it's not just around the schools themselves. Our city's playparks also have speed restriction zones for the same good reason.
We can't emphasize enough the need to cut down vehicle speeds when approaching and passing through school and playpark zones.
Children have a tendency to not always look both ways. They are not prone to thinking about safety first in and around their playgrounds and schools. They have other things on their minds. They are kids and kids are prone to act impulsively always have, always will. That is why they depend on the adults around them to act responsibly.
That means you the driver who is approaching their turf, their playground, their school. This is their domain, not yours, so act accordingly.
Children most often react to situations instinctively, and those instincts generally aren't well honed to deal with speeding vehicles zipping past their playgrounds.
A bouncing ball, a loose shoe, an animated conversation, a wayward sheet of paper, an ear bud plugged into loud music are just a few distractions that could send a youngster into a street without a second's notice. A speeding driver, one who is only slightly distracted, may not have time to react if his or her vehicle is travelling at 50 km/h or more. But at 30 km/h or less, the kid on the bike or skateboard lives to talk about his bruises. At 50 km/h or more, the parents might be talking about their child in the past tense.
We don't want that. We don't need that, and that is why there is no good reason for drivers to speed up in school and playpark zones.
Nothing we can think of is more important than the health and safety of our children.
They are impulsive little creatures, which make them fun to be around but also vulnerable to those of us who think more about what we're doing than what they're doing.
We need to be on the watch, not speeding and not distracted while driving through these vulnerable areas.
Twenty-nine speeding tickets in school zones in one week tells us we have some work to do on the responsibility file.
