Two types of school zones

I sometimes wonder how many drivers realize there are two kinds of school zones.

Actually, watching some Prince George drivers, I wonder if they know there is such a thing as a school zone of any type.

Be that as it may, I noticed some years ago that there seemed to be two sorts of school zone signs. Some of them had the 30 km/h speed on them, some didn’t.

So I checked with a couple of RCMP officers and was informed that yes, the two signs did represent different zones.

In the case of the sign with the speed limit attached, you have to slow down to that speed (usually 30 km/h) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. because you are driving very close to a school.

In the case of the signs where there is no speed limit attached, you can continue to drive the regular speed limit, but are advised to pay attention, because there is a school in the area, and there may be school children on the road.

I found that interesting, and probably annoyed a few of my friends and relations over the next little while by asking them, as they were driving, if they knew what the difference was.

Most of them hadn’t noticed any difference between the two kinds of signs, and just slowed down to 30 when they passed a school zone sign of any type.

That’s probably the safest way to handle the situation, but it’s not legally necessary.

Then, of course, you have the drivers in Prince George who apparently don’t see the school zone sign or choose to ignore it because it would mean slowing down from the 70 or 80 they’re doing through a residential area.

The good news is I have been seeing a number of people pulled over by RCMP in school zones, and I know the RCMP have stepped up enforcement of the speed limits near schools.

• You can tell it’s been a strange winter when it’s the middle of March and drivers in Prince George are more concerned about dust on the road and potholes than they are about snow piled in the middle of streets and streets not being cleared.

I’m not complaining (much) since it means our parking lot at the office has a couple more spaces than it did about a month ago, as the pile of snow piled at the one end has steadily diminished.