About 80 students from two Brackendale schools this week lined Government Road with signs urging drivers to keep it safe and sane in the school zone.
The demonstration, which included signs painted with slogans such as Could you live with yourself? and I worry about my little brother walking here, was organized by the Grade 8-9 leadership class at Don Ross Secondary School and included help from other DRSS students and a handful of Grade 6/7 students from Brackendale School. DRSS vice-principal Robyn Ross and Brackendale principal Paul Lorette supervised the proceedings in front of Brackendale school.
We're trying to get people to slow down, said Joe Moore, one of two DRSS Grade 9 students credited by Ross with having recruited schoolmates to take part in the demonstration to urge drivers to slow down for safety, the other being Jacob Houston.
Added Moore, It's already a residential area [outside the school zone] and here we've got a school zone. I don't understand why you wouldn't slow down.
During the 20-minute demonstration, most drivers who passed remained at or below the 30-kilometre-per-hour school zone speed limit before and after passing the students who lined both sides of the road. But at least two crept past the group only to gun their engines once they had passed.
At an April 4 meeting to discuss speed and other safety concerns along Government Road, Ross mentioned the possibility of staging such a demonstration to emphasize the need for drivers to drive with greater caution through the school zone.
Since that meeting, District of Squamish officials have erected devices along the road north and south of the school to gather data on traffic speed and volume as part of an effort to determine how best to address traffic safety concerns in the area.
Ross said she was pleased to see students who planned a similar demonstration on Wednesday (May 1) take the time to recruit, paint signs and voice their concern over school-zone safety.
We connected with No Regrets, who did a talk at the school about minimizing risks, Ross said. Out of that some of our students took this issue on and said, 'What can we do about this?'
