FAQs

Under ideal conditions, vehicles travelling at 50 km/h require 24-48 metres to stop. Add another 10 metres when roads are wet or icy. Vehicles traveling 30 km/h need only 8-10 metres in ideal conditions (add another 5 metres in poor conditions). By slowing down, motorists have a better opportunity to react when children are crossing the road, and students stand a better chance of surviving a pedestrian/vehicle collision. 

Other jurisdictions across the province have instituted these changes with the Cities of Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Medicine Hat all combining school and playground zones whereas others including (but not limited to) the Cities of Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, St. Albert and Towns of High River, Stony Plain, and Beaumont have all extended the effective time of school zones from morning to evening. 

The justification for instituting such a change include (but are not limited to): 

• Protect children attending after-hour activities at schools. 
• Reduce driver confusion around changing hours in different zones.
• Create consistent start and end times town-wide where our children play. 

The following approximate survivability rates if hit by a vehicle are sourced from Manitoba Public Insurance with similar numbers reported by the World Health Organization Speed Management Manual:

• 30 km/h = 95% survivability rate 
• 40 km/h = 60% survivability rate 
• 50 km/h = 45% survivability rate 
• 60 km/h = 10% survivability rate

While the Town does not track data on playground usage it is reasonable to assume that children are utilizing playground and school fields throughout all seasons with less activity during winter (particularly late evening hours) and more activity in the summer (including late evening hours) especially when considering daylight hours throughout the year. 

Data from across the province suggests that there is a direct correlation between the reduction of speed limits and a reduction in both the severity of incidents and the total number of incidents involving vulnerable road users (i.e., pedestrians and cyclists).

Edmonton: Prior to 2014, the City of Edmonton did not use playground or school zones. In September 2014, all day school zones were implemented at all elementary schools in the City, with an effective time of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm on school days. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of the 30 km/h school speed zones indicated: 

• 43% reduction in injury collisions. 
• 71% reduction in injury collisions involving vulnerable road users.
• 12 km/h average speed reduction in school zones. 

Based on these findings and public engagement efforts the city decided in 2017 to extend school zones to include junior high schools as well as move to a harmonized model where all schools and playgrounds are signed as playgrounds with effective hours of 7:30 am - 9:00 pm daily. 

Calgary: A similar study was conducted in 2017 following the City of Calgary's decision to move to a harmonized system. The key findings of this study are summarized below: 

• The mean traffic speed in playground zones decreased from 36 km/h to 30 km/h. 
• The number of collisions involving pedestrians within the new playground zones decreased by 33%, with a 70% decrease between 5:30 pm and 9:00 pm. 
• The collision rate decreased from 0.049 to 0.011 collisions per million vehicle kilometres of travel per year. 
• 58% of respondents knew the exact start time of school and playground zones, whereas 73% knew the end time. More than 80% of the respondents find it easier to remember zone times with a single zone type that is consistent throughout the year.