School zone speeding tickets on holiday Monday frustrate Winnipeg drivers

Some Winnipeg drivers feel frustrated about getting tickets for speeding through school zones on a holiday when students weren't in class.

"I was quite surprised," said Andre Lederer. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Lederer was issued a $221 ticket for driving 43 kilometres an hour in a 30 km/h school zone on Thanksgiving Monday.

Lederer said he is always careful when driving through school zones, but felt he was in the clear that day as kids were at home with their families, not at school.

"If they are going to issue tickets on types of holidays like these, there should be better awareness to the public than maybe what they have out there … little disappointed," Lederer told CBC News.

Trevor Day found himself in a similar situation. 

He was driving down Vermillion Road with his two kids on the same day when he passed through a school zone.

"There [was] no kids in any of the schools," he said. "The whole point of the law is to protect kids while in school."

A $285 speeding ticket showed up in his mailbox two weeks later.

Todd Dube, founder of traffic-ticket advocacy group Wise Up Winnipeg, said members of his team drove around the city on Thanksgiving Monday to see whether drivers were being ticketed in school zones. They found what they were looking for.

"They had the gall to actually enforce on Thanksgiving," he said. "We had reports early in the morning that they were all over town." 

Dube said he doesn't believe tickets should be issued to drivers on days when kids aren't in school, which is why he and his team set up in some school zones on Thanksgiving Monday and waved signs to alert drivers.

"Thanksgiving in Winnipeg is more like, 'Thanks for giving us your next paycheque,'" he said.

Councillor wants year-round speed limit

A Winnipeg police spokesperson would not say how many tickets were issued on Thanksgiving Monday.

Reduced speeds are enforced Monday through Friday, regardless of holidays, the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson with the City of Winnipeg said there aren't any immediate plans in the works to have the bylaw changed to exclude holidays.

Coun. Janice Lukes, who chairs the city's infrastructure renewal and public works committee, said if it was up to her, speed limits in school zones would be enforced 365 days a year.

"Look, every single school has a playground. Often schools have sports facilities or other amenities around them that attract children," she said on Monday.

"I'm absolutely supportive of having this 30-kilometre school zone limit in effect as it is, Monday to Friday."

While Lederer hopes the city reconsiders the current policy, he plans to pay his ticket, he said.