All Day School Zones

The Strathcona County School Traffic Safety Partnership supports All Day School Zones. See our position statement below or download a copy here.

Position Statement: All Day School Zones

Currently, Strathcona County follows the provincial standard for school zone effective times. School zone times are established under the Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation, Sections 4, 5, 7 and 8 and are in effect between the following times on school days: 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Municipalities can pass a bylaw to change school zone effective times should they wish.  Many municipalities in the Capital Region have opted to adopt all day school zones, including the City of Edmonton, St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan and Beaumont.

Research Support for All Day School Zones

According to Parachute Canada, children aged 10 to 14 years have the highest incidence of pedestrian-related injuries. Children aged five to 14 years are at the greatest risk for pedestrian-related deaths. Their number one recommendation to improve community safety is to reduce driver speed (http://www.parachutecanada.org/downloads/injurytopics/ChildPed_Report_07:08.pdf ).

This recommendation is echoed by the World Health Organization, who cites speed as the number one risk factor for pedestrian traffic injury, noting that impacts above 30 km/h increase the likelihood of severe injury or death (http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/79753/1/9789241505352_eng.pdf?ua=1 , p. 18).

Vision Zero Canada recommends that speed limits be set at 30 km/h in places where pedestrians and cyclists mix with cars (https://visionzero.ca/policies-and-practice/ ).

Local Factors which Support All Day School Zones

Strathcona County’s Traffic Safety Strategic Plan 2020 is guided by a Vision Zero philosophy: “No one is seriously injured or killed while travelling on Strathcona County’s road network”.

Provincial school zone effective times are inconsistent with some of the County’s school schedules, who start classes before 8 a.m. and dismiss classes before 3 p.m.  Further, provincial school zone effective times do not provide safety for children on early dismissal days.

For these reasons, the Strathcona County School Traffic Safety Partnership supports the implementation of all day school zones in our community. Specifically, we recommend a bylaw where speeds in all school zones are limited to 30 km/h from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.