Traffic surveys conducted recently by EPS in Southwest Division, highlight the need to remind motorists to slow down and adhere to all traffic laws near schools.
“As any parent can attest, the roadways around schools are becoming increasingly difficult to navigate due to the volume of traffic flow through these areas,” said Const. Andre Paul, of EPS Southwest Division, a part of the city that boasts 67 schools, the highest concentration of educational facilities in the city.
“Combine that with icy roadways and school bus traffic and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. We want to ensure all of our children get to school and home safely, and to accomplish that we need our partners, the public, to drive responsibility.”
Between Oct. 30, 2013 and Nov. 19, 2013, police monitored nine schools throughout the Southwest corridor and recorded numerous traffic infractions by both drivers and pedestrians, including crosswalk violations, failing to stop for pedestrians, failing to come to a complete stop, failing to wear a seatbelt, disobeying traffic signals, jaywalking and distracted driving.
While motorists can face fines upwards of $587 for various school zone traffic infractions, it is often children and their families who could pay the highest price when a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle.
“Enforcement is certainly one of the tools we can employ, but police can’t be everywhere,” said Const. Paul. “We need the public to be aware that in the few minutes that they save by rushing to and from a school to deliver and pick-up children, they could also tragically alter, not only their lives, but the lives of others, forever. “It’s not worth it.”
Police noted close to 800 traffic infractions that occurred in and around the nine schools that were monitored in Southwest Edmonton over a three-week period.