Calgary councillor leads call for higher school, playground zone speeding fines
Posted Apr 17, 2024 10:34 am.
Speeding through school zones can lead to near misses, close calls, and tragically, even injuries.
Now, one Calgary city councillor is hoping the province will consider doubling fines for those caught in the act.
Coun. Jasmine Mian is advocating for changes to Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act, including stiffer fines for speeding in school zones and playground zones.
“This is a big concern for anyone across the province who is a city councillor — school zone safety — and we hear from residents all the time about speeding and other unsafe behaviours,” she said.
She introduced her motion during a committee meeting on Tuesday.
If it’s approved by Calgary council, it would be seconded by the Village of Duchess, and then up for discussion at the Alberta Municipalities conference in September.
“As a city councillor, I am in my school zones quite a bit and safety is a very big concern,” Mian said.
She adds penalties are doubled on roads occupied by roadside workers and first responders, but the province is lagging behind other jurisdictions like Ontario and B.C., where fines are higher for speeding in school zones.
“We’re one of the only provinces remaining that still hasn’t doubled them for school zones or playgrounds. So, I think that’s interesting and I want to have a conversation with other municipalities as to whether they think this is something that we should advance a little bit further,” the councillor said.
Mian believes upping the fines will discourage the behaviour.
“It has to be significant, so it has to make a dent for people to know ‘Hey, this is something we can’t be doing,'” she said. “Even when people slow down a little bit, it can have a huge impact on the severity of injuries.
“In terms of speeding fines in doing things like U-turns — or really unsafe behaviours — doing things in crosswalks, the fine is not commiserate to the safety challenge that it poses.”
According to the government’s website, speeding fines in Alberta start at $81 and increase depending on speed.
Last week, Calgary police said officers pulled over a vehicle driving more than 100 km/h over the posted speed limit in the city’s northwest.
The driver is off to court, where they could receive a 90-day driving ban and a $2,200 fine.
Calgary police say one in four drivers involved in fatal collisions were caused by driving at an unsafe speed.
-With files from Tiffany Goodwein
