A number of changes will be implemented to school zone laws in Regina on Sept. 1.
The biggest change to note is the speed limit, which is changing from 40 km/h to 30 km/h.
The length of school zones will be shortened slightly with this speed limit change, and the City of Regina says there’s a reason for that.
Faisal Kalim, the manager of traffic engineering with the City of Regina, said compliance with the law is actually lower when the zones are longer.
“One of the priorities for this was to shorten the school zone distances to make sure that people are slowing down when it’s really required, which is adjacent to the school,” Kalim said. “We want to make sure that motorists do slow down at that critical point, and that they don’t get frustrated with driving in the slower zone and end up speeding up near the end of the zone when it may not be warranted.”
The City says playground zones will also be changing to match the school zone speeds. Kalim anticipates that switch to be complete by the new year.
The hours the school zone limits are in effect is changing, and must now be followed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days per week, as opposed to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Another law change in school zones states that U-turns will be illegal. Kalim said it’s too unpredictable of a move to do around so many children.
All changes will come into effect on Sept. 1, which gives motorists two days to get used to them before students are back to school on Sept. 3.
