By Leah Murray

More than 30 tickets issued to drivers at Dr. Ken Sauer School

Sep 28, 2017 | 12:39 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Medicine Hat Police Service is reminding residents to slow down when driving near Dr. Ken Sauer School.

Police say more than 30 tickets have been issued since the area surrounding the school became a police enforcement zone in August.

“In a school zone, that’s a lot for a month,” said Sgt. Clark White with the Medicine Hat Police Service’s traffic unit. “It tells us we need to continue focusing on this.”

White said the biggest issues observed include speeding through school zones and not stopping at the stop signs near crosswalks.

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“When you don’t come to a complete stop, especially in a congested and busy location such as this, you don’t have the proper time to assess what’s coming,” he said.

School principal Jason Peters says the school is working to emphasize safety for its students, and is working to set up a school safety patrol unit, to help students cross the roads safely in the mornings and after school.

“Certainly we’d be talking with kids on how to navigate [the area], where they should be crossing and what they should be doing,” explained Peters.

Peters added he would like to see crosswalk lights installed at one of the busiest intersections at the school.

“The 11th Avenue crossing is the one where we would be the most concerned, due to the fact that one side is completely residential, so that can sometimes cover up a bit of the cross walk,” he said.

The City of Medicine Hat’s municipal works department said it’s aware of the issues and is monitoring the area

“The school did just open, so it’s important to kind of give some time for conditions to normalize so we can get some good observations and get some good data,” said municipal engineer Randi Buchner.

“Then we can make some really good decisions on what to do with the school if there are some issues.”

Police are also doing daily monitoring of the school zone, saying it is their current priority. Starting in January, the school will also become the newest photo radar site.

“It’s a 30 zone. The kids, they don’t have time to adjust to it,” said White. “They’re here, school’s in, so we need everyone to slow down.”

The school’s playground will also be opening within the next week and it’s expected to increase the number of children in the area throughout the day.