SGI safety spotlight shines on 260 speeders in school zones

A number of Saskatchewan drivers learned a lesson about school zone speed limits in September.

SGI says 260 people were given tickets by police for speeding in school zones across Saskatchewan last month, when the Crown insurance company’s Traffic Safety Spotlight focused on that issue.

The company and some of its partners recently unveiled speed radar backpacks to be worn by safety patrollers in school zones around Regina.

In the Queen City, speed limits in school zones are 30 kilometres per hour from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Since that speed limit was set in 2019, Regina police have staged blitzes in school zones to crack down on violators.

The speed limits in school zones and the times they’re in effect are the same in Saskatoon.

SGI noted that the numbers of tickets handed out during the Traffic Safety Spotlight don’t include tickets issued through the use of photo radar.

The company also said 35 drivers across the province received tickets for failing to yield to pedestrians at an intersection during the month of September.

“By now, kids have settled back into their familiar school routines, but drivers are asked to remember that school zones are busy throughout the school year,” SGI said in a media release. “Slow down to the posted limits, watch out for pedestrians and avoid distractions.”

In addition to the tickets for speeding in school zones, police in September also recorded 723 instances of distracted driving (including 605 for drivers using their cellphones while behind the wheel), 4,827 tickets for speeding or aggressive driving offences, 426 seatbelt and car-seat offences, and 384 impaired driving offences, including 172 Criminal Code charges and 212 administrative suspensions.