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Trustees Advocate For Traffic Safety Education And Enforcement In School Zones

Wed, 18 Mar, 2015

At the March 17 public board meeting, Trustees unanimously agreed to write a letter to the Mayor and City Council asking for increased traffic safety education and enforcement around schools and in school zones.

“We are all after the same thing at the end of the day – the safety and well-being of our students,” said Board Chair Michael Janz, who put forth this motion. “With 17,000 speeding tickets issued in school zones, we strongly believe enforcement needs to be ramped up. We are happy to partner with the City on this initiative.”

The Board Chair’s original motion asked that a portion of revenues from photo radar be directed to this initiative. The board decided to change the motion and remove the reference to photo radar revenues, letting the City choose when or how to fund increased enforcement.

The approved motion reads: “That the Edmonton Public School Board write a letter to the Mayor and City Council advocating for traffic safety initiatives around schools and school zones and for increased education and enforcement.”

Chair Janz also noted board members will soon be meeting with the City to discuss this issue. In November, there were more than 3,500 school zone speeding violations and on January 26 alone, there were 1,065 drivers caught speeding in 13 different school zones. This is the highest number recorded in one day since school zone enforcement began.