Prince George RCMP's traffic services section issued 183 tickets to drivers caught speeding through school zones over the first nine days of the school year.
A further six drivers saw their vehicles impounded for a week for excessive speeding. The most egregious was a driver who was traveling at 84 km/h in a school zone near Pineview elementary school on Old Cariboo Highway, Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said.
A further 38 tickets were issued for speeding through a playground zone and 55 for traveling above the posted speed limit near a school zone but not in one.
Another nine tickets were issued for failing to wear seat belts, nine for using prohibited devices and seven for intersection related violations. And one driver was arrested for drunk driving under the Criminal Code while two 24-hour suspensions were issued for alcohol and one for drugs.
Add on another 48 for other various violations and the total added up to 359.
RCMP were aided by 23 Citizens on Patrol volunteers who were out at 10 school zones with digital signs telling drivers how fast they were going and clip boards to take down licence plate numbers.
Of the 1,122 they observed, 114 drivers were found exceeding the 30 km/h school zone speed limit. Those who weren't issued a ticket can expect a letter in the mail explaining the offence observed and what the penalty could have been.
"We will continue to patrol in and around school zones and playground zones throughout the year," said Prince George RCMP Sgt. Matt LaBelle, in charge of the detachment's traffic services section. "To the tens of thousands of drivers that followed the rules of the road during these first two weeks of the school year, we thank you."
For more information on Citizens on Patrol, go to www.princegeorge.rcmp-grc.gc.ca, call the Prince George RCMP community policing office at 250-561-3366 or drop the detachment at 455 Victoria St.
**EDIT – A previous version for this article had incorrect information about the speed of a driver in a school zone on Old Cariboo Highway.
