You're busy. You can see where you need to go. There's just one small little barricade in the way. It won't really matter if you drive around it, will it?
Wrong.
"We've got guys operating back hoes and diggers," said Steve Gledhill, health and safety co-ordinator for the City of North Battleford. "If they swing around fully laden, they could literally obliterate a small car."
When barricades are on the road, they're there for a reason. Gledhill said the City crews attempt to finish any job as quickly as possible, but in order to do so safely, they require motorists to respect the barricades and not cut through the work area.
When City crews were repairing a water main break last week, Gledhill said a total of 13 license plate numbers were taken down, and that wasn't even the total number of drivers who disobeyed the barricades.
"We're hoping that we can get some compliance from people," said Gledhill, adding although he doesn't want to resort to involving the RCMP, it might come to that if people don't start heeding the barricades and staying out of work sites.
"I want to see everybody safe and nobody needs to pay an extra $500 to the Crown," said Gledhill.
Driving around barricades isn't a simple ticket, either; it carries a mandatory court appearance.
