Attention Calgary drivers: Playground equipment may be closed, but speed limits are still in effect

Calgary police are reminding drivers that playground zones remain in effect even if the playground equipment is now off-limits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, the city closed all playgrounds in public parks — marking off equipment with "danger" tape — and encouraged other playground operators, such as school boards, to do the same.

"The parks will remain open but the playgrounds, specifically, will be closed," Tom Sampson, chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said at the time. "It's just not healthy. It's not a great place for kids to be, where they're going to comingle."

Various parts of playground equipment are "high-touch areas," Sampson noted.

Later, police clarified that, just because the equipment is closed, it doesn't mean that playground speed limits on adjacent streets are no longer in effect.

"We just stopped a driver for doing 50 km/h in a playground zone," Const. Chris Martin said in a social media post. "All posted speed limits still apply, and we are still out enforcing the law."

Martin went on to say that the driver in that particular case was issued a warning rather than a ticket.

Martin said he wanted to offer a "gentle reminder" to all drivers that traffic laws still apply during the pandemic.

"For society to function, the rules need to be followed," he tweeted.

"This is doubly so for traffic safety laws, as we don't want to be filling ERs with victims from collisions."