Burnaby, British Columbia — September 6, 2016 — School zones are like the ‘Wild West’ during pick-up and drop-off times, according to a new study commissioned by the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA). Children are now back in school, and many police forces across the country have announced safety blitzes for the first week back.
BCAA’s School Zone Safety survey reveals that many parents are regularly speeding, ignoring road signs and engaging in hostile driving behaviours. Nearly half of the survey’s respondents (48 percent) believe the problem is bad and getting worse. The survey was conducted by Insights West for BCAA.
“It’s the Wild West in school zones during drop-off and pick-up times,” says Shawn Pettipas, BCAA’s Manager of Community Impact Programs. “School zones can be frantic places with not everyone on their best driving behaviour. We commissioned the survey to see the extent of the problem but the results were more concerning than even we expected.”
Results include:
– 75 percent say they’ve seen ‘near misses’, when a child is almost struck by a car.
– 83 percent witness parents/guardians speeding in school zones.
– 80 percent witness parents/guardians ignoring traffic signs and road rules.
– 51 percent see hostile behavior from parents and guardians such as honking and using profanities.
– 82 percent witness distracted driving by parents and guardians.
– 88 percent see illegal parking by parents and guardians.
Some of these activities are clearly more dangerous than others, but it seems like the dangerous behaviour is very widespread. According to BCAA, the school zone survey reveals that many parents and guardians are dropping off and picking up children in ways that put those children at risk.
Other motorists are also driving unsafely through school zones. The top three unsafe motorist behaviours seen by respondents are speeding at 94 percent, distracted driving at 90 percent and ignoring traffic signs and road rules at 90 percent.
“We understand that parents and guardians are busy and the survey wasn’t intended to focus on anyone in particular. We appreciate the honesty of parents, guardians and school staff who participated,” says Pettipas. “At least a problem has been highlighted which means we all can start working on solutions, starting with better driving behaviour by all drivers and safer choices by parents and guardians when it comes to dropping off and picking up their child.”
Results are based on an online study conducted from August 29 to September 1, 2016, among a representative sample of 712 adults in British Columbia, including 301 who currently serve as principals, teachers or school staff at a British Columbia elementary school, and 411 parents or guardians who drop off and/or pick up a child from school.
