With elementary and high school now back in session, the Rimbey RCMP would like to remind the public about the importance of maintaining safe driving habits while proceeding through school zones, and the warning isn’t just for the locals or the speeders either.
“I can assure the public that we will be out in the school zones running radar – the members will be out there this week on the day shift just keeping an eye on things and warning people for the first couple of days, and after that, we’ll be handing out tickets for speeding in a school zone,” said Cst. Bill Coulthand of the local Detachment.
“We have lots of people – especially out-of-towners, that basically aren’t paying attention – I don’t know how they miss those big yellow signs that are up now, but they seem to, and everybody gets a ticket regardless of whether you’re from out of town or if you’ve been living in Rimbey since the day you were born. People have to start paying attention in a school zone,” he added.
In particular, Coulthard citied the route into Rimbey from the north which, in the span of only a few blocks, changes speed limits a number of times.
“It’s a little tricky coming into Rimbey from the north because you go from 100kph down to 70kph then further down into the park area where it’s 30kph, then back up to 50kph, and then right away back down to 30kph through the crosswalk on 51st Street,” he said.
“We’ll be out there watching what’s going on and we’ll also be parked up by the schools watching parents dropping off and picking up their children and making sure it’s being done in a safe way.”
Regardless of the type of vehicle, Coulthard said everyone going through a school zone will be watched to ensure they are both driving safely and adhering to the posted speed limits.
“We’ll also be keeping an eye on the school buses – we oddly enough, monitor the school bus’ speed through the school zones as well just to make sure everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to, but we’ve never had a problem with the school buses speeding.”
The posted speed limits through school zones in Rimbey is 30kph from the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Coulthard said that the situation in Rimbey is somewhat unique in the fact that the vast majority of students, with the exception being those enrolled in the Rimbey Christian School or the West Country Outreach School, are forced to cross one or both of the community’s busiest streets.
In particular, he pointed to the intersection on the west side of the town near the GTI outlet, where many kids cross 50th Avenue several times each day.
He also reminded the public of the previously mentioned Outreach School which is located just north of the Co-op Shopping Centre and is also the site of a school zone.
“There’s also a 30kph school zone there that starts near the Co-op and goes to near 50th Avenue. There is a school there right on the corner and we’ve had complaints so we’ll be keeping a closer eye on that,” he said. “People seem to forget that there is a school there, but again, there’s those big yellow signs up there reminding people that it is a school zone.”
Coulthard also pointed out the letter of the law which dictates that all pedestrians – children or otherwise, must fully cross the street and be safely on the other side, before vehicles are allowed to proceed through the crosswalks.
“It’s easy for people to forget, but we’ll have marked cars sitting in the areas and we’ll be keeping an eye on the schools and reminding people to watch for kids walking or riding their bicycles through school zones. If there is a child standing on the corner and the child is crossing and you don’t stop, you can be charged for failing to stop for a pedestrian.”
And you might want to heed his advice because of you’re caught, the fine will set you back a minimum of $575.
Further, Coulthard said the Detachment has also received complaints about drivers refusing to stop for safety patrol students who monitor the crosswalks and they’ll be watching for those as well as kids who aren’t crossing where they are supposed to.
“Everybody in this town has kids who cross busy streets to get to school and young kids sometimes don’t always pay attention to what they’re doing, so we’ll also be reminding them to pay attention through our police patrols as well,” he said.
Above all else, Coulthard said it is imperative that all drivers are aware of what is going on around them and to pay particular attention when kids are involved.
“I don’t want to have to be the one that investigates some young child getting run over and having to explain to the parents what happened, and I don’t think anybody that lives in this town, or in the area or even out of the area, would want to be responsible for running over a young child in a school zone,” he concluded.