Letter to Regional District of North Okanagan calls for improved school zone safety

Improve school zone safety

Photo: Glacier Media

The Regional District of North Okanagan will consider additional traffic calming measures in school zones at its regular board meeting on Wednesday.

In a letter submitted to the board, with personal information redacted, an unknown person asked the board to discuss road safety measures.

“In this past year, we have had school age pedestrians and cyclists in our community hit by motor vehicles,” reads the letter dated Nov. 19, 2024.

“In the winter we had a motor vehicle lose control, go through a school fence and stop just a few feet from an elementary school slide – minutes after students finished recess.”

One safety suggestion is to make all school zones 24 hours a day, seven days a week – following the lead of Penticton which made this change in spring 2024.

Another suggestion would be to introduce speed humps in all school zones.

“Speed 'humps', while not perfect, guarantee an overall speed reduction near to 30 kilometres per hour for most drivers,” reads the letter.

Speed humps are typically shorter and wider than a traditional speed bump. The humps would slow drivers down to about 30 kilometres per hour, while a speed bump slows motorists down to about 10 kilometres per hour.

The letter is looking for all RDNO school zones to employ these safety measures.

The Electoral Area Advisory Committee is recommending the board ask staff to look into processes and options for the Ministry of Transportation and Transit to reduce speed and increase safety in Electoral Area School Zones.