On Thursday, October 14, 2021, a CAA School Zone Safety Assessment was conducted at St. Gregory School, 302 Upland Drive in Regina. The assessment took place before school from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and after school from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Staff from St. Gregory School, Regina Catholic School Division, and CAA Saskatchewan worked in teams to track risky behaviours for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians in the school zone. The CAA School Safety Patrol was also on duty after school and was observed and included in this assessment.

Twyla West, spokesperson for Regina Catholic School Division, remarked “we’ve heard from several of our school division staff and families that school zone safety remains an ongoing concern, with increased congestion of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. We’ve observed that continued risky behaviours performed by drivers include stopping/parking in a no-stopping zone and making U-turns in a school zone, which are both are illegal and unsafe. We would like to remind drivers to respect pedestrians, including students, in our school zones. Know the risks.”  

“The CAA School Zone Safety Assessment is a CAA-owned, online application (app) that tracks the identified risky behaviours and ultimately provides education and awareness about the importance of school zone safety,” said Vanora Gagnier, CAA School Zone Safety Coordinator. The assessment tool is free of charge and can be booked through CAA Saskatchewan. School or community staff must make themselves available for the onsite tracking assessment and can work with CAA to establish the risky behaviours to be tracked. The results are collected and given to the school community to share with staff, students, families, community partners, and decision makers with the sole purpose of making necessary safety improvements in the school zone.

According to this assessment, the top two hazardous driving behaviours that motorists perform in the school zone are stopping and parking in a no stopping zone and completing U-turns. The top risky pedestrian behaviour is jaywalking. 

CAA reminds motorists that we can work together to make our school zones safe by:

• Eliminating distracted driving
• Obeying traffic laws
• Understanding and abiding by the ‘no stopping’ and ‘no parking’ signage
• Driving according to the posted speed limit.
• Motorists, please remember performing U-turns in school zones is illegal in some municipalities
• Be aware of the CAA School Safety Patrollers on duty and follow their directions

It’s good safety practice for pedestrians to STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK before crossing streets and busy intersections. Students and families, please remember to cross at crosswalks and marked intersections and never jaywalk.

The combined number of risky behaviours at St. Gregory School during the CAA School Zone Safety Assessment is 275. Detailed results are below.

Learn more at caask.ca/schoolzonesafety.

St. Gregory School Zone Safety Assessment

For further information, contact:

Vanora Gagnier
CAA School Zone Safety and CAA School Safety Patrol Coordinator
306.216.7362
vanora.gagnier@caask.ca