'No excuses': Bad driving habits still being spotted in school zones
Canadian Automobile Association's eighth annual back-to-school safety assessment took place on Wednesday
Nearly 300 drivers should have been ticketed for breaking the rules of the road near schools Wednesday morning, according to CAA.
Winnipeg police officers were out in three school zones for the Canadian Automobile Association's eighth annual back-to-school safety assessment.
"It's a check-in for drivers," said Winnipeg Police Service staff Sgt. Sean Pollock. "It's all of our responsibility to keep our kids safe."
"This is an opportunity to remind people that their driving behaviours have direct impacts on the road safety of our kids that are on the way to and from school as well as the other motorists."
The officers and CAA representatives were out at Ecole Henri-Bergeron, Linden Meadows and Stevenson-Britannia School between 7:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. recording more than 800 instances of risky behaviours.
The top three were: 217 drivers crossing the stop line, 185 drivers not stopping at stop signs and 87 drivers speeding.
"There's lot of kids crossing the sidewalks and if somebody rolls past the stop sign, the chance that you could have a collision with a kid is pretty high," said CAA spokeswoman Liz Kulyk.
"Kids aren't looking for people, they're just going about their way. They see their school in the distance and they're just trying to get there."
In front of the elementary school in Lindenwoods, a driver was seen pulling a U-turn in the middle of the road, said Kulyk. This behaviour was spotted 12 times, plus one illegal U-turn.
"We're three weeks into school now. Now they have no excuses," Kulyk said about drivers.
"They should know what's going on, they should know the rules they're meant to follow in the school zones."
Other risky behaviours recorded this year include: 12 drivers on their phones, 18 not stopping at cross walks, an 11 eating while driving.
But it wasn't just about drivers.
Pedestrians and cyclists were also being watched by police. Not wearing a helmet and not signalling properly were the top rules broken by cyclists.
This year, no one was spotted putting on makeup behind the wheel.
