NEWS RELEASE
NIAGARA REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE
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With the first day of school in the books for Niagara’s students, so is the Niagara Regional Police Services 23rd Back to School Traffic Safety and Awareness Day.
In addition to uniform patrol officers from across Niagara, over 50 additional officers including senior officers and those who work in specialty units who are not regularly assigned to uniform patrol duties took to the streets.
Officers focused on areas for education and enforcement near schools and Niagara’s 13 Community Safety Zones. Officers concentrated their efforts on speeding, distracted driving, aggressive driving, seat belts and bus safety. In addition to the stationary teams, officers also followed school buses looking for drivers failing to yield or stop for loading or unloading school buses. Also of importance to officers was crosswalk safety.
NRPS officers issued 176 provincial offences notices (tickets) across Niagara today with majority being for speeding. In addition to the tickets, officers also issued 56 warning mostly for speeding.
Of note officers assigned to our ‘Back to School Traffic Safety and Awareness Day’ were monitoring traffic on Louth Street near Valley Road, in the City of St. Catharines. At 8:58am a yellow school bus was observed travelling north on Louth Street in a Community Safety zone, with RADAR indicating that the school bus was travelling 72kms/hr. in the posted 50kms/hr. zone. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver, a 72-year-old male, was charged with speeding in accordance with the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. The bus was occupied at the time with approximately five children onboard.
One of the goals of the NRPS Back to School Traffic Safety and Awareness Day being to remind drivers to drive safely particularly near schools. While this goal is highlighted for this one-day campaign; the NRPS is committed to the year-round goal to make Niagara’s roads safer for all users.
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