Weather, everybody talks about the weather.

But there is another topic I hear about a lot, traffic! There are plenty of stories out there about the other driver! The near miss, the guy who cut you off, the one who drove too fast or the one driving too slow.

Of course then I hear about the ticket you got and how they should have caught the other guy. It goes on and on; trust me, I am very aware of what goes on out there. I see it, I enforce it and I try educate people on it. Unfortunately it’s an uphill battle and one I doubt we will ever win, but it doesn’t stop us from trying.

One of the tools of traffic education is Speed Watch. The group is made up entirely of volunteers with equipment provided by ICBC. The members are committed to making our roads safer. Speeds are monitored in areas of concern including school zones. Working with the RCMP they work to educate and to raise awareness. Local residents often identify areas they believe speeding is an issue; police can deploy them to these areas as a way to determine the scope of the problem.

Their primary role is to raise awareness and promote road safety. On occasion police follow up with drivers who are checked traveling well over the posted speed limit by way of warning letters. But they are not there for enforcement purposes.

Sadly, on occasion, the team has been subject to criticism by some people. They are volunteers who donate their time for a safer community. Their role is to monitor traffic and record the results. This year the seven-member group clocked over 5,500 vehicles during the season. Of those, approximately 10% were traveling at least 10 km/h over the posted speed limit. Some of the checks include Norton Avenue, Hwy 95A near Marysville school, 4^th Avenue and Rotary Drive.

If you want to improve road safety in Kimberley, why not volunteer? Shifts are two hours long once or twice a month. Contact the Kimberley RCMP if you are interested. The team will start again in the spring.

Cpl. Chris Newel

Kimberley RCMP

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