Regina school safety patrollers will soon be wearing backpacks with built-in speed radars

Safety patrollers at Regina schools will be wearing backpacks with built-in radars that will display a driver’s speed as part of a new initiative to reduce speeding in school zones.

Patrollers at both Regina Public and Catholic schools will wear the backpacks making the Queen City the first community in the province to launch the initiative.

Henry, a safety patroller at Ethel Milliken Elementary School, was one of the first students to try out the fancy new gear.

“Wearing a backpack with the limit on it has an impact on everyone because drivers can actually see what speed there’re going and they pay more attention to the bright lights,” he said.

Originating from a pilot program in Quebec, CAA adopted the program to incorporate into their school safety patrol program.

“This system works by having a radar detector that then transmit the signal to a backpack that can be worn by a student and provide that extra visibility to drivers as they’re driving through,” Manager of Traffic Engineering for the city Carolyn Kalim told CTV News.

The City of Regina has partnered with CAA, Regina Police Service and both school divisions. An adult from one of the partnering organizations will accompany the patrollers wearing the backpacks.

“As part of the City’s road safety initiatives, these backpacks are a great way to involve students and attract the attention of drivers to promote speed awareness,” director of roadways and transportation Chris Warren said in a news release.

• Download the CTV News app to get Regina breaking news and top stories on your device

Four backpacks in total will circulate for the remainder of October, the city says it will then work with partners to consider expanding to additional schools for the remainder of the school year.

“I love the idea because it’s just another layer of protection you know we’re working about crossing safely. [We] try not to have jaywalkers. We also have U-turns and then we have speeders. So this is just another layer to slow the people down before they even get to the crosswalk," said Hillary Ibbott Neiszner, principal of Ethel Millikan.

The City of Regina said Ethel Milliken, W.S. Hawrylak, St. Francis and St. Jeromewill be the first four schools to get the radar backpacks.

“Unfortunately, we continue to see drivers who choose to disobey the law, despite knowing the potentially tragic outcomes. When it comes to school zones, these poor choices are affecting the children in our community,” Sgt. Mark Golaiy said in the release.

In Regina, the school zone speed limit is 30 kilometres per hour and is in effect seven days per week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Fines for speeding in a school zone start at $170 and go up from there depending on speed and the added victim surcharge, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

Drivers will also be penalized three demerit points on their licence for receiving a school zone speeding ticket.