By Sheena Roszell

school zones

School zones in effect Sept. 3 as students head back to class

Aug 30, 2019 | 6:11 AM

The first day of school is Tuesday, September 3 and that means school zones are back in effect.

Enforcement Services Sergeant Ross Gear says school zones are very busy and officers will be out there Tuesday morning enforcing all traffic safety laws.

“Right from day one our officers are going to be out there and hopefully nobody gets a ticket, hopefully this year everybody follows the rules, but at the same time we want to set a pattern right from day one. We have to observe these laws, these laws are so important because it comes down to the safety of our children.”

According to 2017 stats, 876 fines were handed out in school zones for traffic safety offences between September 5 and September 15. Most of those tickets were for speeding; 29 were parking violations. (We have asked for 2018 stats are waiting for those numbers.)

The fine for most parking offences is $78 and the most common infractions include parking within 5 metres of a crosswalk or intersection, parking in an area signed as no parking or no stopping, parking or encroaching on a sidewalk and parking on the wrong side of the street.

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Gear says kids will be excited to head back to class and it is important parents have a chat with them about traffic safety.

“Most of them are excited to go back to school and to see their friends and go into a new grade, it’s all kind of exciting so they might not be concentrating on safety,” he said.

He says when you come into a school zone always be prepared to stop. You’re dealing with children and children are unpredictable. If a child runs out in front of you, you want to be able to stop in time. School zones, particularly crosswalks are very busy. Ross adds that it is against the law to pass another vehicle in a school zone.

School zones are in effect on all school days from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the speed limit is 30 km/hr. Playground zones are 30 km/hr from 7:30 a.m. until one hour after sunset.