Link: http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/article/85839

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Sep 13, 2007 - 03:13 PM

By Jeff Mitchell

DURHAM -- Looking for the answer to traffic safety in your youngsters' school zones?

You might want to take a look in the mirror.

That's the conclusion of a Durham traffic cop after a week-long back-to-school blitz resulted in hundreds of charges, many of them laid against people who were dropping their children off for the day.

"People need the reminder, obviously," said Sergeant Shaun Arnott.

"I think it's very important that we do that -- just to give people a tap on the shoulder."

During Operation In The Zone, officers fanned out across the region from Sept. 4, the first day of school, until Friday the 7th. During that relatively short period of time officers wrote 1,091 tickets, including 796 for speeding, 80 for stop-sign infractions and eight for aggressive driving.

One motorist was ticketed for speeding twice during the campaign -- the second time having just left the courthouse to pay his first speeding fine -- while another was busted for drunk driving.

Yet another was pinched for flashing his high beams at other drivers to warn them of the presence of officers with radar in a school zone; the charge, officially, is Prohibited Use of Alternating High-beam Headlights.

Follow up:

Sgt. Arnott said the ongoing results from such blitzes prove that people need constant reminders about their driving habits, even in their own neighbourhoods.

"Is 1,000 tickets a success?" he said.

"Yes it is, because we're constantly reminding drivers there are traffic laws we're enforcing.

"Sometimes, police presence in the area does as much good as writing tickets."

Mark Joel, superintendent of operations and transportation with the Durham District School Board, said ever-growing traffic congestion in school zones leads to more hazards for children as they make their way to and from classes.

Enforcement blitzes such as the one carried out Sept. 4 to 7 help to remind drivers they've got to take care, he said.

"We need to have people being as aware of other people's children as they would like people to be of their children," he said.

"Based on previous history, the vast majority of people (charged) were either dropping their kids off at school, coming from the school or live in the neighbourhood," Mr. Joel said.

"It's usually a lapse in judgment or concentration."

The board is working with Durham Region Transit to offer attractive fare discounts for students in an effort to alleviate congestion in some school zones, Mr. Joel said.

In the meantime, the board welcomes police enforcement initiatives to remind drivers to slow down, he said.

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