For drivers who needed a reminder that September means the return of school speed zones, Greater Victoria police were happy to provide a uniformed wakeup call.
Last week, police were out at schools around the region to give inattentive drivers a rap on the knuckles, but even when police aren鈥檛 on the scene, those of us who get behind the wheel have to remember that summer vacation is over.
In Victoria, the entire police traffic section turned out on the first day of classes on Sept. 3 to nab people who were zipping past schools as if it were mid-August.
Twenty drivers got off with only verbal warnings that day.
Officers got tougher at seven schools between Sept. 4 and 6, when they wrote 26 speeding tickets.
The school-zone limit of 30 km/h seems painfully slow when you鈥檙e in a hurry, and we鈥檙e all tempted to push down a bit harder on the gas pedal. Many British Columbians believe more of their fellow drivers are yielding to that temptation.
A sa国际传媒 Automobile Association survey found 45 per cent of those polled think school-zone safety is getting worse. Among people who drive kids to school, the figure is 51 per cent.
Anyone who sees the 30-km/h sign as an annoyance should reflect on sa国际传媒 Coroners Service figures that show car accidents seriously injure 2,400 child pedestrians each year in sa国际传媒, and kill 30.
The streets around schools are flooded with children who rarely have cars on their minds. It鈥檚 up to drivers to think safety.
