File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: Please slow down; it’s the least we can all do for safety

Jan 25, 2021 | 10:50 AM

YOU’D THINK WE’VE HEARD IT ENOUGH to not see it happen again. Speeding in school zones, that is. Going over 30km/h in a school zone can have awful consequences. Like I said in a previous column on the same topic, while the most awful are of course the deadly crashes, they are all horrendous.

Living near two schools, I can attest that the message has yet to be heard — or heeded, rather — by everyone. Like the person driving their vehicle at high speed shortly after pickup time near Summit Elementary the other day. Or the car behind following as if in a trance.

People living near other schools in Kamloops mention the same. Some drivers just don’t slow down, for whatever reasons.

According to polling conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) nearly a quarter of drivers reported witnessing a miss or near-miss in school zones, half of which involved children. Nearly half of drivers witnessed impaired driving, which along with speeding and illegal parking constitutes one of the three most unsafe behaviours occurring near schools. And last but not least, 70 per cent of drivers witnessed speeding in school zones.

While September has been deemed as most dangerous month for pedestrians in general, any time of the year can be dangerous, whether near a school or anywhere else in town.

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On a snowy day like today — and the rest of the week, according to the latest prognosis — roads can be tricky. In non-equivocal terms, dangerous. More so where ice patches from previous melt-freeze cycles are covered by a layer of snow. Higher-than-allowed speed can make sudden braking a dangerous affair if the road is slippery.

This is also a good time to mention that the congestion that occurs near schools come at dropoff and pickup time adds to the problem. That includes the streets in the neighbourhood the school is in. Once kids are dropped off, some drivers zoom away at full speed.

At the beginning of the school year, you can sometimes see an RCMP car near schools during school hours. Some drivers get tickets for speeding and others spot the said vehicle early enough to avoid getting one. For a few days the issue seems resolved, but it isn’t.

Would speed cameras be the answer? Last year, 53,000 Toronto drivers were issued tickets after the newly-installed speed cameras recorded them speeding. The cameras were placed in ‘local, collector and arterial roads in community safety zones near schools.’

Much like the school zones, residential streets could benefit from a calm traffic under 30km/h. I am not the only one who has witnessed, repeatedly, cars driving fast on residential streets, mostly in early morning but not only then. Being late will never be solved if the only applied solution is speeding.

Adding to that is the divided attention: many vehicles now have screens on the dashboard, and some drivers still check the phone while behind the wheel. Thus, their eyes slip away from the road and so does their attention. Also, some vehicles are big enough to make it difficult to see pedestrians nearby.

If you’ve ever had a close call while on a crossing, you know how terrifying that is. I have had a few, on marked crossings. Two were by myself and a couple of others with my sons when they were toddlers and riding in strollers. I know I am lucky to be here to tell the story. We recently got reminded of how horrible crashes that involve pedestrians are.

So, what’s to be done to reduce the risk? Speed cameras, billboards reminding of the dangers, steep fines? There are limited budgets that won’t accommodate for some of that, but paying attention and caring for people’s lives while behind the wheel is free and doable. Let’s all do our part.

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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.