|
Playground rumble strips unnecessary |
|
|
|
Written by Brad May
|
|
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 8:42 PM |
A recent letter to The Herald by Tony Baldwin stated the city doesn’t care about kids because we don’t have rumble strips in our school/playground zones.
How ridiculous. I have two kids who attend Galbraith and Wilson Middle school, which are only a few blocks apart. There is school zone here from 16 Street to 23 Street North, and yes, the photo radar is there at least 50 per cent of the time. It’s pretty rare that anyone speeds through this zone. I have never seen anyone “screech to a stop,” as you put it.
As a parent, and taxpayer, the last thing we need in this or any other school zone are rumble strips. I already think our speed limits are fine, if not too rigid. In the U.S., at least where I have visited, their school zones are posted as 20 miles per hour (32 kilometres per hour) “when children present.” Doesn’t this make more sense? Why should we be driving 30 km through a school zone at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. when there is absolutely nobody in sight?
And then you want to add rumble strips? Wow, that would be so much fun to drive over them at 9 p.m. when, again, there’s no kids around. Or in the summer? Yeah, really smart. What good would they be in the winter when roads are covered in snow and ice? Where do we stop from here? Rumble strips everywhere so people obey the speed limits?
Come on, grab a reality check. Think about it before you send such a letter on a whim. With our current speed limits, and the cash cows with cameras parked along the way, I’d say our school zones are plenty safe. To say city council doesn’t care about kids is irresponsible, to say the least.
|
