As the summer winds down and children are preparing to head back to school, the Halton Regional Police Service is getting ready to launch Project Safe Start 2019.
This will be the 12th year the Service has conducted their homegrown campaign, which focuses on education, awareness and high-visibility enforcement of traffic laws throughout Halton Region, particularly in and around school zones.
Project Safe Start 2019 is two weeks long and focuses on the period during which children are returning to school. This year’s campaign will run between Monday, August 26th through to Friday, September 6th.
School zones should be safe zones. Officers are reminding motorists that over 100,000 students return to school in Halton Region on Tuesday, September 3, 2019.
Motorists should be on heightened alert for increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic in and around school zones.
Remember driving safely is your priority:
- Drive at a safe speed. Aggressive driving such as speeding, tailgating and failing to comply with road signs increase the likelihood of a collision. Aggressive driving reduces your reaction time and makes your vehicle movements unpredictable to other drivers.
- Be aware of your surroundings when driving. There are three types of distractions: taking your eyes off the road, taking your hands off the wheel, and taking your mind off driving. Holding your cellular phone in your hands is an offence, regardless of whether you are talking on it, using the navigation system or changing a song. This is still applicable when stopped at a red light. Did you know that texting while driving increases the risk of a collision by 23 times?
- Drive responsibly. Drug-impaired driving and alcohol-impaired driving can result in serious injury or death to you, your loved ones and other road users. Impairment slows your ability to react to changing road conditions. Drinking before driving and any form of drug use will impact your ability to drive.
Halton residents have ranked traffic concerns as their #1 policing priority. Project Safe Start 2019 is just one of the campaigns that the Halton Regional Police Service engages in throughout the year in an effort to educate the public and enforce the Highway Traffic Act and other traffic-related legislation.
Sergeant Ryan Snow, Traffic Services Unit: "All motorists have a role to play in traffic safety, especially as children return to class this fall at one of the over 160 educational facilities across Halton Region. Project Safe Start aims to ensure that our youngest and most vulnerable road users remain safe. The Halton Regional Police Service would like to encourage motorists to slow down, drive sober and avoid using their cell phone and other devices at all times while driving. Regardless of who is at fault, when a vehicle collides with a pedestrian or cyclist, the consequences are usually tragic. All children deserve to attend school – safely."
Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and police all play an integral role in ensuring safer roads within Halton Region. We thank the community for doing their part to ensure school zones are a safe place to be.