A Kelowna parent is speaking out after witnessing what she calls dangerous driving behaviour in school zones, a problem RCMP say continues despite increased enforcement.
Melissa Lane says speeding drivers are a daily concern when she picks her children up from school.
“I am here every day at 2 p.m. to pick up my son, and there’s been people going well into 80 kilometres an hour in this school zone,” Lane said.
As a mother of two, Lane worries it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.
Her fears were heightened after a close call she witnessed earlier this week.
“Yesterday we were leaving Ziprick and two girls were crossing the four-way stop there, and one vehicle went to turn and almost hit these two girls,” she said.
Kelowna RCMP say speeding in school zones remains a persistent issue.
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Cpl. Allison Konsomo says more than 150 speeding tickets have been issued in school zones alone, not including other traffic enforcement across the city.
“It definitely is high,” Konsomo said. “We should not be issuing that many tickets, because that’s just speeding alone.”
In response, RCMP have increased patrols near schools.
“We have our speed watch program, they’ve been out a total of 18 times this year,” Konsomo said. “They’ve clocked over 7,500 vehicles, and even right now, as we speak, we have officers out doing enforcement.”
Still, Lane believes more needs to be done, pointing to the vulnerability of children near busy roads.
“It almost feels like until a kid gets seriously injured, it’s not going to get handled the way it should be,” she said. “I would love to see more monitoring until people get it. I really think speed bumps would help.”
Police echo concerns about how unpredictable children can be around traffic.
“Children are so unpredictable,” Konsomo said. “They don’t always know the rules of the road. They like to dart out in between, and if you’re going even 20 kilometres over the limit, your stopping time is going to be doubled compared to going 30 kilometres an hour.”
In the meantime, Lane says she’s focusing on educating her own children about road safety and encouraging other parents to do the same.
“I’ve always made it a point to tell them that if they’re anywhere near the road, they need to make eye contact with the driver,” Lane said. “That way the driver knows they see them, and my kids know the driver is stopped.”
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