Spring Break and School Zones
With spring break right around the corner, parents everywhere are getting ready to bunker down and be the live entertainment for two weeks straight. 🥴 Which means lots of outings and afternoons at the park. So even though school zones during spring break are treated the same as Christmas and summer break… Meaning you can drive the regular speed limit, not the 30 kms enforced during school hours (This varies from city to city. Some of Alberta is 7:30 AM-9 PM. British Columbia is usually 9 AM-5 PM.) With that being said, speed limits are always the maximum recommended speed. With good weather, exhausted parents and most schools having parks; you need to still be on the lookout for kids. Sometimes they forget to look both ways, or assume that you see them, or they can dart out after a toy, either way they can come out of nowhere! So do the speed that makes you feel comfortable. If there is a herd of kids playing in a school park, by all means do 30 kms, even if it’s after school hours. Don’t worry about the person behind you getting road rage for the two minutes you’re going slow. If you hit a child… They won’t have to live with the guilt, you will. If you happen to be the person behind, calm down. Also don’t even think of passing! It’s incredibly dangerous and super illegal. Don’t mix up school zone signs and playground signs. There are no days exempt from these zones. It’s always the posted speed limit, every day from dusk till dawn or 7:30 AM to 9 Pm . If there is no posted speed limit with the playground sign, then the speed doesn’t change… But be cautious. Never speed through these areas (or anywhere). The 30 seconds you might gain by speeding isn’t worth a lifetime of pain for the families involved. Us parents like to joke about these little turkeys, but if something ever happened to them… Life would be over for us. So whether you’re a parent or not, please drive safely.