More than 2,000 tickets issued during first month of new school-zone speed limits, Regina police say

Regina drivers have made it through the first month of new 30 km/h school-zone speed limits.

The limit was lowered from 40 km/h on Sept. 1 after a motion to change it was passed by city council in April. 

Many drivers aren't abiding by the rules.

According to the Regina Police Service (RPS), officers wrote 484 speeding tickets in school and playground zones during the month of September.

That's on top of about 1,700 tickets handed to motorists who were caught by two school zone photo radar stations.

More work to do: RPS

RPS Sgt. Rob Collins said that since Sept. 1 officers have done speed enforcement in almost all 93 Regina school zones. He said it's difficult to compare enforcement numbers from September to other months under the old speed limit because of increased enforcement. More officers on the lookout for speeders generally means more tickets issued. 

Despite that, he said there's still more work to be done to curb speeding.

"We're going to need to continue robust enforcement," said Collins. "We still haven't achieved what we're looking for."

In addition to front-line enforcement, Collins said educating the public about the speed limit change is important. RPS is planning to continue social media campaigns and work with other community partners to do this.

Another issue is how fast drivers speed through school zones. Collins said most of the tickets he's seen written would have been violations under the old speed limit.

"They're not over by one or two [km/h]; they're over significantly," he said. "We're still trying to get people to get off the 50 or 55 or 60 [km/h] that they're driving on other streets."

Speed limits 'not suggestions:' SGI

SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy said he's not surprised by the numbers, given the increased enforcement.

"Posted speed limits are not suggestions, said McMurchy. "Whether it's in Regina, where the limit's 30 km/h, or other communities where it's 40 km/h."

Other communities in Saskatchewan, such as Saskatoon, Weyburn and Prince Albert, already have 30 km/h school zone speed limits.

McMurchy said it's possible that some Regina drivers may have found the speed limit change easier because they were used to slower limits in other communities, but he believes those who slow down do so because they know it's for children's safety.