School zone speeding tickets in Saskatchewan less than half compared to 2019

There was a drop in school zone speeding tickets during the September traffic safety spotlight in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) said police across the province issued 673 school zone speeding tickets during the month.

In the 2019 September spotlight, over 1,420 speeders were caught in school zones.

SGI said while that’s less than half the number caught compared to last year, it’s still too many.

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The penalties for speeding in school zones are tougher than regular tickets and increase the faster a motorist is travelling. As an example, going 20 kilometres per hour over the limit in a school zone results in a $310 ticket and three demerit points.

However, SGI said the most important reason drivers need to slow down in school zones is to keep kids safe.

Last month, five $230 tickets were also issued to drivers for failing to yield to a pedestrian at an intersection or crosswalk and one $360 ticket was issued for failing to stop five metres from a school bus when its safety lights were flashing.

Saskatchewan police also reported 451 impaired driving and 660 distracted driving offences in September.

The October spotlight is on distracted driving.

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