Speeding, U-turning, distracted driving, jaywalking — a recent safety assessment of one of the busiest school zones in Regina found all of this happening as students are getting dropped off and picked up.
Regina Public Schools and the Regina Catholic School Division partnered with Regina police and CAA to track what the non-profit association identifies as risky behaviours by drivers and pedestrians in zones around Harbour Landing and St. Kateri Tekakwitha schools on James Hill Road earlier this week.
From 8-9:15 a.m. and 3-4 p.m. on Wednesday, CAA recorded 1,141 infractions.
“We’ve heard from several of our school division staff and families that school zone safety remains an ongoing concern, with increased congestion of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. We’ve observed that continued risky behaviours performed by drivers include speeding and making U-turns in a school zone which are both are illegal and unsafe,” RCSD spokesperson Twylla West was quoted as saying in CAA’s press release Thursday.
“Through the CAA School Zone Safety Assessment, we are able to track pedestrian and driver risky behaviours, for the purpose of making changes for everyone’s safety,” Regina Public Schools communications supervisor Terry Lazarou stated in the press release.
The most common driving infraction was speeding. There were a combined 292 cases recorded where a driver was going about 10 kilometres over the 30 kilometre speed limit near the school.
Sixty-nine times, a driver was noted not to have stopped at a crosswalk. Thirty-five times, a driver made an illegal U-turn. There were 15 instances of distracted driving.
Regarding pedestrian behaviour, the study found 344 instances of jaywalking.
“This just shows how much congestion there is at that school,” Vanora Gagnier, a communications specialist with CAA, told Global News Friday.
“People are coming and going and dropping kids and young kids and bigger kids off at the schools and there are just so many safety concerns and issues around in that area.”
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