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White Rock police ticket 147 drivers in school zones

‘Unreal’ number of speed violations logged in four days
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Police speak to a driver caught speeding in front of Peace Arch Elementary Tuesday – the day school started. (Contributed photo)

Police in White Rock were shaking their heads last week after issuing nearly 150 tickets to drivers flouting the rules of the road in school zones.

Const. Chantal Sears said 147 citations – 78 for speeding – were handed out over four days of enforcement conducted around White Rock and Peace Arch elementaries.

The number is nearly quadruple that issued in the first week of school last year, she said.

“I think we were around 40 for the four days,” Sears told Peace Arch News by email Friday, of the 2017 statistics.

“This is unreal.”

The presence – consisting of officers and volunteers in reflective yellow vests, as well as marked police cars – was planned as a not-so-subtle reminder to drivers that the reduced 30 km/h speed limits are back, and that extra attention is needed on the roads to help keep kids and their parents safe.

Sears said one driver who was ticketed in front of Peace Arch Elementary was surprised to learn that school was back in, and that they were actually in front of school.

School-zone speed limits are in effect from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. The same limit applies from dawn to dusk in park zones.

ICBC statistics show that 51 kids in the Lower Mainland are injured each year while in school and playground zones.

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From left, community policing volunteers Monica G, Elli Mitchell, Ivo Saarni and Bob Gray monitor traffic on Johnston Road in White Rock Wednesday morning. (File photo)


Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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