March, 1999

Getting personal with speeders

Throughout the school year, police in Saskatchewan cities report that speeding is a major concern, particularly in school zones where there are lower speeds posted. But while children are walking to and from school every day, as many as one out of every three vehicles is speeding past them.

In an effort to combat the problem, police are taking a more personal approach to the issue of speeding. Drivers who are caught going over the speed limit in participating cities will not only get a speeding ticket, but police will also give them a card from local students as a part of a new SGI program.

The cards are printed with the message "Before you speed please . . . Think of me," and include an area for students to draw pictures of themselves and to print their name, age and school. Students complete the cards and the schools return them to police. The cards are intended to remind drivers why there are speed limits posted, particularly in school zones, by putting a face to the dangers of driving too fast.

"Some children draw pictures of themselves, and some draw pictures of their families," said Shannon Ell, SGI's Supervisor of Traffic Safety Promotion. "I have been told by enforcement officers that the reactions of drivers range from tears to anger for using such tactics to stress the importance of maintaining the speed limit. But we are getting the message out there."

SGI covers the printing costs and passes the cards onto police, who then distribute them to local elementary schools. Currently, participating cities include Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Melville, and Yorkton, and cards have been sent to police services in Swift Current.

Const. Brent Kalinowski of the Prince Albert Police Service said the worst time of year for speeding is during the beginning of a new school year, which is why he started handing out the cards in Prince Albert in September 1998. He said most drivers forget over the summer about lower speed limits in school zones, and the cards have provided a great way to remind drivers to slow down.

"We usually monitor a school zone for a couple of weeks at a time before moving on to another school zone," said Kalinowski. "We used to get calls from people complaining in areas that are no longer being monitored that speeders have returned, but lately we haven't been getting so many of those calls."

Kalinowski said the cards focus primarily on school zones, but they are handed out all over the city since children cross streets everywhere.

Ell reminds drivers that in addition to speeding tickets and the cards, there are other consequences to exceeding the speed limit.

"Some drivers forget that their vehicle requires some distance between braking and coming to a complete stop. The faster you go, the greater the distance you need to stop. And this is really dangerous when you think of how much distance is actually between your vehicle and a child who runs out into the middle of the street." said Ell.

"And drivers who have committed traffic violations like speeding have a record under our Driver Improvement Program. The program operates based on a point system and a two-year window. Points accumulated over a two-year period can result in serious penalties, like an interview with SGI or a licence suspension."

For more information, contact:
Shannon Ell
Supervisor, Traffic Safety Promotion
SGI Communications
Regina
(306) 775-6179

Back to News Releases