It’s the first day of the brand new school year and the PG RCMP along with the BC Highway Patrol will be scanning school zones to catch speeding drivers.
Mounties were at Pineview Elementary School this morning (Tuesday) to mark the occasion.
Cpl. Jennifer Cooper told MyPGNow.com that even going a little bit over the 30 kilometre per hour limit can be costly.
“To put it in perspective, if you are going 40 kilometres an hour in a school zone that is a significant portion over. That is like going 130 kilometres in a 100-zone on the highway.”
Cooper added not enough people are respecting the 30 km/hr speed limit in school zones.
“We are still finding people not paying attention to school zone safety and not remembering that it is a mandatory 30 kilometre maximum in our school zones.”
“Kids are excited to be back to school, they are going to be everywhere and not really focused on road safety. As drivers, we need to make sure we are more alert today and in the days coming especially as we have changing road conditions.”
Every year in BC, three children are killed and another 359 are injured while walking or cycling – this includes 59 in school or playground zones according to ICBC.
Failure to slow down or stop when required can result in a number of tickets:
- Speed in a school zone or playground zone $196 to $253
- Fail to stop for school bus $368
- Fail to yield to pedestrian $167
- Disobey school guard/patrol $167
School zones are in effect every academic day from 8 AM to 5 PM.
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