12 speeding tickets issued in 3 hours on Blue Shank Road over weekend

When Prince District RCMP set up on the Blue Shank Road last weekend, they issued 12 speeding tickets in a three-hour period, according to Cpl. Gavin Moore of the RCMP.

One driver was going 141 km/h and another was going 158 km/h, nearly double the 80 km/h speed limit. Both vehicles involved were impounded for seven days.

Moore said complaints from residents prompted the RCMP to set up on that road, which is often used as a shortcut between downtown Summerside and Norboro, just east of Kensington, on the way to Charlottetown.

"There are serious dangers that come with speeding, and we're just glad to be able to co-operate and receive information from the public," Moore said.

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Gail McKie has lived on the Blue Shank Road for 27 years, and said speeding is commonplace where Route 107 turns up toward Summerside on its western end, before traffic merges onto Read Drive.

"Speeders every day. Literally every day, and we've seen at least three accidents happen on the turn."

McKie said one of crashes she witnessed involved a car going into the nearby Wilmot River.

Police and residents agree: Drivers need to stop hurtling along this P.E.I. road

6 months ago

Duration 1:38

RCMP recently caught nearly a dozen speeders on the Blue Shank Road near Summerside, P.E.I., including some drivers who were ticketed for going nearly double the speed limit. CBC News spoke with Kool Breeze Farms owner Ian Simmons, RCMP Cpl. Gavin Moore, and 27-year Blue Shank Road resident Gail McKie about what is going on and what could be done to stop speed demons in the area.

"I don't know if they realize that there's a turn up there, and the speed limit goes down to 60. Maybe it's too late when they realize it, [and] they can't slow down in time, but it's a real issue."

When McKie leaves her home, she's too cautious to back out of her semicircular driveway onto the busy road. Instead, she drives out nose-first.

With P.E.I. schools closing for the summer in a few weeks, she said people need to be even more careful: "There's gonna be kids out on their bikes, and people need to slow down."

She thinks the speed limit near the turn toward Read Drive should be less than 60 km/h, and overall that the limit should be lower on the rest of the Blue Shank Road. But even if that were to happen, she said people will likely keep speeding.

Distraction seen as an issue

Ian Simmons owns Kool Breeze Farms on Read Drive, on the western end of the Blue Shank Road. He said people speed all over P.E.I., saying driver distraction is a big issue.

"Life's busy, and I think if there was a nice little reminder, like a digital speed sign in a few strategic locations, it'd probably work out better for everyone."

Moore said the RCMP was glad to co-operate with the public on the Blue Shank Road monitoring.

He hopes that when people see the tickets being issued, they'll realize "these speeds are not appropriate on these roadways."