SGI cautions motorists to be alert in school zones

With students heading back to school this week, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is reminding motorists to be more attentive on the streets.

"Police across the province are going to be on the lookout for drivers not driving safely in school zones," SGI media relations manager Tyler McMurchy said.

He added that September marks SGI's traffic safety spotlight on school zones.

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McMurchy said they chose this spotlight during the start of the school year because children don't always pay attention to safe traffic behaviour.

"They may dart out into traffic, unexpectedly jaywalk — they're excited to get back to school and see their friends," he said.

He said in 2016 there were 28 collisions, nine injuries and nearly 25,000 convictions for speeding in school zones levied to Saskatchewan motorists.

And although those statistics aren't too drastic for the province, he said this year, SGI is working to reduce that number.

"What we're asking motorists is to take a little bit of extra caution when they're travelling through a school zone," McMurchy said.

"Basically just slow down and realize that school zones are busy places with a lot of smaller, harder-to-see people, so pay attention to that and make sure that everybody gets to school safely."

Fines for speeding in a school zone start at $140.