School zone enforcement runs from the first day of September to the last day of June, from eight o'clock in the morning to five o'clock in the afternoon, Monday through Friday, whether school is in session or not and you'd better believe that the police services are out there enforcing this speed law, rain or shine. To illustrate this point, I once received a speeding ticket, almost two decades ago, in front of a school that had been shut down by the city, had been closed for years, yet the school zone was still in effect and even the cop who issued the ticket to me, agreed that it was bullshit, given that no kids had even played on the playground that still existed on the chained up property, in years.
My mother told me about the time she received a ticket while driving to my house. There's a high school on the corner, next to a strip mall. The zone where she received her ticket, begins approximately fifteen yards or so (estimating in football terms) before the traffic light. The light, at the time, was red and she was coasting to a stop, and though she was stopping anyway, the fact that her speed was just above the posted thirty kilometers per hour, one of the fine Saskatoon Police Service officers saw fit to pull my aging mother over and issue her a, in my opinion, undeserving traffic violation. Keep in mind, that this is a woman who never breaks the speed laws, ever. It scares me how slow she will travel on any of the roads in Saskatoon. Even as other vehicles scream past her, she remains five to ten kilometers under the speed limit. For this reason, I almost always insist on driving when we are together. So for her to receive a speeding ticket is, not only inappropriate, but downright offensive. That was a few years ago and nothing that could be addressed in a court of law, today.
My mother is not one for protesting anything. To her detriment, she, all too often, rolls with the punches and gets the short end of the stick. She further explained how on that particular day, there was a lot of traffic speeding up to beat the yellow light, which doubly upset her that she was the one to get caught because she was slowing down, rather than speeding through the amber. It is my opinion that it was because she was an easier target and that the cop didn't wish to expel any energy in pursuing those who were clearly in violation.
Her story reminded me of this past weekend when I, too, received a speeding ticket, when I was returning from the Entertainment Expo at the Exhibition Grounds. Normally, I wouldn't take the route that would bring me through the downtown, but it was the route I'd taken earlier in the day and saw fit to return the same way. The speed limit on the freeway has always been 90km/h (56mph) as long as I can remember, so when I saw the flashing red-blue lights in my mirror, I thought there was an emergency and I pulled over to the side. Then I saw the cop pull over to the side as well. At this point, I still figured that my way was the route that the cop needed, as all the lanes to my left were congested with people driving faster than myself. They, too, were blazing through the now amber-turned-red traffic light on the other side of the overpass. I quickly maneuvered around the corner and pulled over to the right, as far as I could, but the black unmarked police car did not pass me, but pulled up behind me. That's when I seen the gleam of the sun reflecting off the officer's bald ass head as he strode toward my vehicle.
"Do you know why I stopped you?" he asked. Bewildered by the situation taking place, I said "No." Then he showed me a device he was holding that showed my speed. "You were clocked going 92km/h." To which I replied, "In a 90km zone." "No," he responded, "In a 70km zone."
I was completely flabbergasted, "When did that change?"
"It's been seventy for some time, now." he answered.
"But what about all those who were passing me and blowing through the yellow light? They get off for speeding?"
The constable replied, "They're none of my concern." He then asked for my driver's license and issued me a ticket for $194. Talk about some bullshit.
The cops, it seems, would rather scoop up the easy pickin's rather than make an effort to chase down those who are driving dangerously fast. My initial path would have taken me straight down First Avenue and given that the light was turning amber, I clearly would have stopped for the red. I never pass through an amber light unless I'm already in the intersection when the light changes or if it's icy and I slide into the intersection, though honestly, that rarely happens. However, this day, I was the easiest target.
I'm not making excuses. Clearly I was no longer familiar with the freeway speed, although it's clearly marked as 90km/h almost everywhere on Circle Drive, the bridge being a part of that system, but if he claims it is seventy kilometers per hour, certainly he wouldn't lie just to issue a ticket to little ol' me. I'm sure there's no corruption on the traffic level of the police service. 🤨
Now I read that the City Council has issued a new bi-law to take effect in September of this year, extending the school zones from 7am to 7pm, despite the idea being extremely unpopular in citywide polls. Then again, not to discuss politics, our mayor is a major boob.
All day long, I can travel on Circle Drive which encompasses our fair city and constantly be passed by drivers, flashing me the finger as they speed around me. I used to work along these same roads, in work zones that people know universally that speeds need to be reduced to 60km/h to better ensure safety for those working in the work zone and people refused to do so, the police included. I can't count how many times that I've nearly died because someone was speeding past me going well over a hundred. Two years ago, I remember bending over to pick up a piece of refuse, my head merely inches from the shoulder of the road, when a truck sped past me, so close that my hard hat flew off my head. Looking up, I saw that the black Ram was speeding on the shoulder of the road, passing a stream of cars who blocked his passage. I can't recall how many times I came close to losing my life while working the roadside of this city. 😔
Seems like some cops only enforce the speed when they feel like it, then when they do, they seem to pick off the easy targets, rather than those who put everyone's safety in jeopardy. So let's make this easy across the board. Everyone, myself included, just slow the f*ck down.
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