We sent out an email to member school councils, asking what issues they’ve experienced with traffic safety. We heard back from ten schools, which is impressive, and indicative of the widespread nature of these problems. We also heard suggestions that some schools are using to address the issues. We will present these ideas at the meeting organized by the Sam Livingstone school council, where parents, community members, police, city planners, trustees and MLAs will discuss the problems and share potential solutions. The safety of our kids is worth it!
Common Problems:
- speeding, by commuters, parents and school buses
- jay-walking by children and parents, parents encouraging kids to jay-walk
- illegal u-turns, illegal left turns
- passing at a crosswalk failing to stop at an occupied crosswalk
- driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on the sidewalk
- failing to stop at a stop sign
- illegal parking, double parking, blocking driveways and alleys, stopping in the middle of the street, parking in the staff parking lot, parking too near the intersection, parking in bus zones
- school beginning before the playground zone begins
- confusing signage where school zones and playground zones begin, end or don’t cover
- after school care or activities ending during rush hour
- poor visibility including no flashing lights at crosswalks, inadequate street lights, blind corners, blind hills, blinding sunrise or sunset
- no crossing guards in K-3 or K-4 schools
- limited parking or limited access around schools
- rarely, children have been hit and injured, even within a crosswalk
Some Suggestions:
- a campaign advertising the law that passing is not permitted in a school zone
- a solution specific to this particular school on a main road would be to narrow the road to one driving lane in each direction in front of the school
- new signs with flashing amber lights to indicate times to slow down (versus times on a sign)
- a school has a “Drop Off” Zone in place in front of the school, but it needs to be monitored
- having more police presence for people jaywalking, u-turning, double parking and speeding would be great
- a school is looking into reducing vehicle traffic in front of the school by encouraging and introducing car pools and walking school buses
- a school has also done a “safety blitz” where volunteers have been out monitoring the streets in front of the school talking to people about traffic violations and giving them reminders (but there may be liability issues)
- the whole street be designated “school zone” 30km speed so there is no ambiguity when it starts
- consider the implementation of speed bumps
- stricter fines for speeding school busses – and follow up with the City and School board to set and enforce the speeding rules
- restrict parking on the “school” side of the fence to provide better visibility of the kids crossing the street
We’ll share again what we hear at the stakeholder meeting and any further suggestions of things that school councils can do to improve the situation specific to your school.