The B.C. Automobile Association (BCAA) released some alarming survey results this week. Driving in school zones, the survey found, “has gone from bad to worse” since last year.
“Particularly alarming is that hostility [and] aggressive attitudes amongst parents such as honking or using profanities has jumped almost 30 per cent,” BCAA reported, basing its conclusions on responses from more than 300 school faculty and staff and more than 400 parents or guardians across the province.
Alongside this deterioration in civility, the survey found increases in unsafe driving behaviours among parents and guardians dropping off or picking up their children. Offences run the gamut from not stopping at a marked crosswalk (reported by 82 per cent of respondents), driving while distracted (82 to 86 per cent) and that perennial favourite, driving over the speed limit (93 per cent).
These problems are nothing new to Sunshine Coast Speed Watch coordinator Jon Hird, who has been tracking driver behaviour around Coast schools for nine years.
“The common talking point is that congestion and the aggressive driving of parents as they pick up their kids is the heart of the problem,” Hird said Wednesday, two days into the new school year.
When it comes to excessive speed, he said, “absent-mindedness is probably the biggest factor, rather than thumbing their noses at the Motor Vehicle Act. Their mind is somewhere else.”
To help make school zones safer, BCAA has come up with a few tips for parents and motorists:
• Avoid running late. Give yourself plenty of time in the morning.
• Focus on what you can control. No matter what’s happening around you, be patient and courteous.
• Follow the rules, including school drop-off and pickup procedures and the rules of the road.
• Pay close attention while driving. Expect the unexpected and look out for safety risks.
• Reduce congestion by walking or cycling your child to school, or park a few blocks away and walk your child the rest of the way to school.
Meanwhile, Speed Watch is always looking for volunteers to help operate the group’s speed display signs. For more information, call Hird at 604-740-1005.
