The warm weather of spring should be a time to break the shackles of winter’s grip and enjoy life.
Instead, sunny weather seems to just encourage people to do dumb things.
Here are a few examples.
Speeding through school zones and other areas
Last week, Burnaby RCMP netted 34 speeders in about three hours during a speed enforcement blitz at three local schools and a notorious stretch of Kensington Avenue. Traffic Services set up speed traps at three schools and Kensington Avenue, north of Sprott Street, to kick off a month-long provincewide anti-speeding campaign. The speed trap at Kensington was close to the site of a 2017 fatality. Police say that stretch of roadway is notorious for impatient commuters racing past cars in the right-hand lane and then cutting in to turn right on Sprott and then west on Highway 1. Most drivers were doing at least 20 km/h over the speed limit, although one moron was actually doing double the limit when the cops caught them.
Impaired driving
We’re heading into grad season, a time when young people party hard – with some taking unnecessary risks. To combat this, Burnaby police have been descending on high schools along with Transit Police, BC Ambulance Services and TransLink to raise awareness about impaired driving. The new Choose Your Ride initiative, spearheaded by school liaison officer Const. Alexa Hodgins, has involved an assortment of police cruisers and an ambulance being parked in school parking lots at lunch. Officers and paramedics have been on hand to talk to students about responsible transportation choices during grad festivities, the laws around impaired driving, vaping and drug misuse and the possible consequences of driving impaired. “I wanted a different way to talk to kids about everything to do with making safe decisions for grad season,” Hodgins told the NOW. “Really, it’s just a fun way to talk to kids and get them to choose a safe alternative. Even if it makes one kid stop and think, ‘I should take a bus or arrange for a taxi or even just call my mom,’ then that’s a win for me.” Parents need to build on this effort by having detailed conversations with their soon-to-be-graduating children.
Risking the lives of dogs
Warm weather means dog owners packing up their animals more often in vehicles. The BC SPCA is reminding people to make sure pets are safely secured in their vehicle when travelling this summer.
They recommend that pets are kept inside the vehicle in a secured crate or restrained with a dog seatbelt. And for pickup owners, this is a reminder that putting your dog in the open truck bed is actually dangerous and against the law. Unsecured dogs often fall out of the truck, resulting in severe injuries, death and endangering nearby motorists. The BC SPCA is asking the public to call 911 if they see this happening.
