Discussions

Parents need to teach their kids not to run in the road and this is coming from a mom of a 4 year old.  
Yes drivers should be careful in these areas so put watch for children signs up not change the speed.

The issue is most people speed.  
 
Make the speed limit 30 km/h so they actually drive 50.

I haven't seen too many drivers who know how to read the speedometer on their cars lately . Every one wants to be first in line . Not many who know how to use their signal lights either , you turn them on before you get to your corner , or maybe these new cars aren't equipped with them .If you ever hit and kill a child or anyone you'll have to live with that the rest of your life , it's a life sentence . I do agree children should be taught to be aware of street safety but they are a lot smaller than a car and will pay the price of someone else's ignorance . Drive more carefully please .

I say yes, lower the speed limits in playground zones. I would rather see that vs. a global reduction to 40 km/h from 50, which was tossed around last year with the municipal election.  
 
I would also like to see the school zones extended to 24/7/365. Kids use those playgrounds all the time, not just during school hours. I've had more near-misses after hours than during school.  
 
These are not unreasonable, and would be in line with many major jurisdictions such as Calgary.  
 
Most parents are diligent about teaching their children to respect traffic, but kids are kids. They forget. They dart out into traffic with with the most watchful parent. My kids often play at Fox Place Park AKA the train park at the intersection of Rosser and Fotheringham. Even with the stop sign there, I've seen way too many cars blow through at a high rate of speed with the playground right there.

You realize we all survived without this 30 km/h . I know there is distracted driving now but that why it is treated worse than drunk driving. My parents taught me to look both ways before crossing the street and I grew up in winnipeg. When I was 3 year old my mom was taking 2 children under 5 on the city bus there. So put down the phones and teach and look and play with your kids

I would like to point out that while the majority of us survived, not all of us did. I remember when I was a child one of my school mates got hit by a car going to school, across the street from the school itself. This was in Winnipeg many years ago. I also had a friend who's brother was hit while outside playing. He was lucky. He spent his summer in a full leg cast.  
 
You bring up the subject of phones. That's a big issue right now too. Despite it being against the law (and against common sense, frankly), I still see many drivers using their phones while driving. As far as I can see, those phones are a game changer for both parenting and driving. You're right parents need to put down their phones. But so do the drivers.

with what you wrote, it should be up to the parents to teach their children safety......it's bad enough it's 30km past high schools.......

Slow down just a bit anyway. There is no valid reason why anyone should be driving above any posted speed limit anywhere...ever. I would be okay with them lowering the limit in playground areas, but I would actually they just drop it to 40 on all residential streets, as well as two lane streets like 6th, 10th, 13th, Park, Rosser, Princess and Aberdeen, if they're going to do it at all. The multi-lane divided streets like Victoria, Richmond, 1st, 18th & 26th could stay at 50.  
 
Regardless, I was driving along a street near a shopping center a few weeks ago when this kid, maybe 8 or 9 years old came running as fast as he could run, apparently, right out from between two parked cars and in front of my car. Luckily, I wasn't going very fast or I would've hit him. There would have been no time to react at all if I had been going any faster, I mean, he was right there. I ws watching where I was going and I wasn't on my phone either. Either his parents have never taught him anything (about safety) or he just wasn't listening when they tried.

I agree totally, makes perfect sense! Children are precious, life is precious, anything can happen but I certainly wouldn’t bash parents, life is tough enough. Go a different route if you can’t slow down for a block.

The population has grown extensively and vehicles are much different now as well...big time!! So there are a ton more vehicles on the road verses way back when.

Alberta does this and I love it. All schools, parks, playgrounds, etc. have lower speed limits year round. I get that “parents should teach their kids” but really... are you going to say that when a kid gets hit and killed? No, you’ll blame the driver for not going slow enough in areas where there are kids. Think outside your daily life bubble and think of the effects around you. An extra minute on your commute for a life... doesn’t seem like a big deal to me.

I was taught to look both ways before entering a roadway, and I did. I was taught to push the button on the crosswalk if there was one, and I did. I was told to pay attention to what is going on around me, and I did. Playgrounds should be fenced anyways as far as I am concerned. We as parents should never ever stop teaching our kids safety. How many parents do we see walking across the street pushing a stroller with their head down and on their phones. Fix the parents first .. they are the teacher.. leave my speed the same.. I respect life including your child’s

Cell phones. Population increase (around 25% in Brandon since 1980). Increase in drinking (or other substances) and driving. Increase in cars (people used to be 1 car families, now 2 or more is common). But, I guess according to your logic, it is OK if the kids of less responsible parents are run over.

I believe that driving the posted speed limit fits into the des:cription of "defensive" driving, so you should have no problem with whatever that is