Saskatchewan

'A very expensive lesson': Hundreds of speeding tickets issued in Sask. school zones

Nearly 2,000 tickets were handed out to drivers in Saskatchewan school zones last month, after a safety blitz focused on the areas.

September saw police focus on school zone safety in Saskatchewan

School zones were the focus of a month-long safety blitz by Saskatchewan police officers in September. (Dean Gutheil/CBC)

Nearly 2,000 tickets were handed out to drivers in Saskatchewan school zones last month, after a safety blitz focused on the areas.

"There are a number of drivers who have learned a very expensive lesson," said Tyler McMurchy with Saskatchewan Government Insurance, noting that fines start at $140 and go up with each kilometre per hour over the limit.

Police across the province targeted school zones during September.

They issued more than 400 tickets in person, while photo-radar cameras snapped another 1,500 speeding vehicles.

A handful of tickets were given out for failing to yield to pedestrians and not obeying school bus safety lights.

Despite the hundreds of infractions, there were fewer tickets handed out in school zones this year than in previous years.

McMurchy said last year, police gave out more than 670 tickets for speeding in school zones and more than 2,700 were issued to speeders caught by photo radar.