A collision near a local school last week has led to a petition for lower speed limits around schools and an upcoming audience with city council.
On June 13, at approximately 6:30 p.m., three pedestrians on the south side of Hwy. 5 activated the stoplight at the intersection of Hwy. 5 and 11th St. to cross the street, reported Const. Darryl Ness of the Humboldt RCMP. They were heading for the playground at St. Augustine School, right across the street.
The traffic light controlling east-west traffic turned yellow, and an eastbound Ford pickup truck came to a stop at the intersection.
The light turned red, but the driver of a second eastbound vehicle, another pickup truck, was not paying attention and ran into the back end of the Ford truck.
Luckily, Ness said, the pedestrians saw the second truck coming and waited on the corner instead of trying to cross the street.
The second vehicle pushed the first truck forward, Ness said.
"They hit with significant force," he reported.
The driver of the second truck, who is from the Humboldt district, was charged with driving without due care and attention. That vehicle was badly damaged and had to be towed from the scene.
The lead vehicle sustained heavy damage, but was still in drivable condition.
No one was injured in the collision, but the potential for injury has both one of the pedestrians who witnessed the crash and at least one local school concerned.
Niamh Menz of Humboldt witnessed the crash and that has put her on a mission to get school zones with lower speed limits established on the highways in Humboldt that pass by schools.
At present, every single school in Humboldt has property along either Hwy. 5 or Hwy. 20. St. Augustine and Humboldt Public elementary schools, along with Humboldt Collegiate Institute, face Hwy. 5, and St. Dominic School's playground runs along Hwy. 20. The speed limits around the schools is currently 40 km/h - the same limit as the rest of the city.
But the time has come for that limit to be lowered to 30 km/h around the schools, Menz believes.
Last week's crash was the third incident that Menz has witnessed or reported off careless or inattentive driving in three weeks, she said, and it has been a common occurrence to see cars speeding by the school, or running the red light during school hours.
Traffic on Hwy. 5 has increased in volume in the past few years, Menz thinks.
"Our children are unnecessarily at risk, and as one of many concerned parents, we feel it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed," she states in a letter she submitted to Humboldt City Council, and which she will present with other members of a delegation at their next regular meeting.
So she is asking city council to lower speed limits around schools to keep students safe.
"Why do we not have school zones?" she asks in her letter.
In Saskatoon, she said, they established school zones with a speed limit of 30 km/h in 2002, because the lower speed limit gives drivers 12 more seconds to react, brake and possibly save a life. She thinks it would be safer for children in Humboldt if the city would lower the speed limit and increase that reaction time here as well.
"I am fearful for our children's safety going to and from school," Menz continued in her letter. "I want my son and all our children to be protected on our roads and respected as pedestrians. We need to do something to reduce the speed, highlight our school zones and keep our children from being hurt or killed.... I think it is time the city showed leadership in addressing this very public concern," she said.
Menz is getting support from St. Augustine School, and possibly other schools, in her attempt to establish school speed zones.
Carol McLaren, principal of St. Augustine School, informed the Journal that a petition is being circulated asking city council "to make the needed changes or to request the changes be made by the provincial government to establish school zones and reduce speeds to 30 km/h at each of the four schools situated on Hwy. 5 and Hwy. 20. This is a safety issue for our students and our families, and for all members of the community," it states.
"Humboldt is growing and I think it's time to have signs up," McLaren stated. "For years, our safety patrollers have dealt with all kinds of vehicles and we've had a lot of close calls.... One life is worth anything," she said. "All we're asking is to keep kids safe. It's time."
The petition was first shared with parents attending St. Augustine School's art show on June 16, and about 70 signatures were collected that night, McLaren noted. They plan to keep it available for people to sign at the school until late this week.
They also planned, McLaren added, to ask the other schools in the area to ask for signatures as well.
Humboldt's next city council meeting will be held June 27 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
