Motorists face stiffer fines as Muskoka school zones get safety upgrade

Newly-designated ‘Community Safety Zone' sign in Huntsville, Ont. (CTV News/Mike Lang)

The District of Muskoka officially declared all of its school zones as ‘Community Safety Zones’ this week, meaning drivers will face greater consequences for speeding near Muskoka schools.

District officials and OPP confirmed that signage designating them as such have been posted around all 11 schools of the district’s six municipalities.

“It allows a bit more stress and importance on the enforcement of these areas, as well as hopefully [slowing] down some of the motorists through these areas,” said Mark Misko, the district’s director of engineering and transportation. “We’ve got kids walking, biking, bussing to school… very busy areas and some sensitive users in those areas. So, hopefully this adds a bit more protection for them.”

The suggestion came from Const. Ted Warman with Huntsville OPP, who said his fellow officers were stopping an alarming amount of speeding vehicles.

“Officers end up doing a lot more enforcement than I think they want to because of cars that are travelling too fast in those areas,” stated Warman.

The OPP officer initially called on the district to designate school zones in Huntsville as ‘Community Safety Zones.’

But the district responded by going a step further.

“We thought, this is a great idea, let’s collaborate further on this and go network-wide,” recalled Misko of the district council’s response.

The new designations mean drivers will face double the fines for traffic violations in those areas.

“If you’re in a school zone doing 70 kilometres per hour, which is excessive, your fines could be $450 dollars,” said Warman.

But police want to remind drivers that it is not about the fines, but about awareness, prevention and above all safety.

“People may not recognize that they’re driving in a way that is unsafe,” said Const. Samantha Bigley with Bracebridge OPP. “In the context of students, we really need to err on the side of caution.”

District officials confirm they’ve also looked into the possibility of speed cameras but cited limitations in the infrastructure required to set them up.

Even with the new signage, police say they will continue deploying the same amount of enforcement resources to keep the newly designated ‘Community Safety Zones’ safe.