Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Westsyde school zone speeding shouldn’t be a surprise

Oct 30, 2019 | 5:07 AM

KAMLOOPS — TOO MANY DRIVERS are ignoring the school zone at Westsyde elementary school — so say police and they’re absolutely right.

Since school opened in September, hundreds of vehicles have been clocked speeding through the school zone. They’ve caught a good number of them driving at 20, 30 km/h or more above the 30 km/h school-zone speed.

This should not come as any surprise. A few days after school opened in September, I was driving through that school zone — as I do almost every day — when I saw a police officer on the side of the road hand signalling me to pull over.

Fortunately, for me, he let me off with a written warning. Since then, I’ve been extra careful with that piece of road and am getting the hang of it but many drivers continue to blast through at full speed.

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Here’s the problem with that school zone. During the 13 years the school was closed, drivers became conditioned to not slowing down to 30 km/h. The speed limit on Westsyde Road is 60 from around Dairy Road all the way into town, so it’s no wonder a lot of drivers have been clocked at twice the school zone limit as they pass by the school.

The new school zone signage is so small it’s of very little help.

These things are no excuse for speeding through a school zone but they’re an explanation of what’s going on. While some drivers might be ignoring the school zone speed limit, I’m certain that most simply don’t notice it’s there.

If police hope for drivers to catch on, they’ll need to write a lot more tickets, and those signs will have to get a lot bigger.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.