Mike O’Donnell, a Regina city councillor, is calling for a review of school zone speed limits. He is right and Yorkton should be following suit.
There are many issues with school zone traffic, but let’s start with the statistics.
According to Transport Canada, on average 30 child pedestrians and killed in Canada every year and more 2,000 are injured. That makes pedestrian injuries a leading cause of injury-related death in children 14 years of age or younger.
Even when they don’t die, childhood vehicle injuries can plague people for life and speed is a major factor.
“When children are struck by vehicles, their injuries are often life threatening or cause permanent physical damage,” states a 2007-2008 Safe Kids Canada report. “Children of different ages are at risk for different types of injuries because of the child’s physical stature. In children between 10 to 14 years of age, serious injuries occur because the body’s center of gravity tends to be above the bumper of the vehicle. The collisions cause three distinct impacts: the first point of contact is with the leg on the bumper, the second point of contact is between the thigh on the edge of the hood and the third contact is with the head and shoulders on the hood and windshield. As the vehicle’s speed increases, so does the force of these impacts.”
To illustrate just how significant speed is, the average risk of fatality at 30 km/hr is around 10 per cent. At 40 km/hr that rises to almost 50 per cent and at 50 km/hr it approaches 90 per cent.
Furthermore, and this should go without saying, the slower the speed, the easier it is for motorists to avoid a collision in the first place.
We also have to look at compliance with school zone speed limits. One of the things that prompted O’Donnell’s initiative was the fact that Regina mailed out 21,543 tickets for speeding in school zones from March 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016. When you consider that is just from a single camera, you can multiply that by about 100, which means pretty much everybody ignores the speed limit.
Finally, we must consider the duration of school zone speed limits. In Yorkton they are in effect from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 365 days a year. The logic, if you can call it that, behind this is that kids play in school yards not just during school hours.
No, they don’t.
One may lament this fact, but it is true. In fact, the vast, vast majority of school zone collisions occur in the 30 minutes prior to classes beginning and the 30 minutes after school.
The best example of a sensible and balanced school bylaw is Saskatoon where it is 30 km/hr from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, from September until June.
That is exactly what Regina is looking at and what Yorkton should also be considering.
Of course, that is just a start. We also need to look at how we get motorists to respect the rules regardless of what they are. That falls under the jurisdiction of SGI. Penalties for school zone speeding are already pretty hefty at $190 plus $2 for every kilometre over the limit and three demerit points. If that does not slow people down, it is hard to imagine what would.
That does not mean we should not try. In theory, giving drivers a break evenings, weekends and summers may make them more inclined to be good citizens the rest of the time.
Also, more and better signage might help, particularly reminding people just how costly their negligence can be. And we are not talking the cost of a ticket here. Imagine the emotional cost of killing or seriously injuring a child. You have to live with that your entire life.
Slow down out there.
