Motorists are encouraged to slow down and observe the posted speed limit on campus of 30km/h.

About 40 per cent of campus drivers are exceeding the posted speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour, and this can cause safety concerns for pedestrians and other motorists.

That according to the latest results of a Kamloops Speed Watch observation.

The observation on Sept. 11 from 10am to 2pm found of the of 644 vehicles monitored at both the East Gate and West Gate entrances, the most offenders were at East Gate, where 47 per cent of 330 drivers were over the posted speed. At West Gate, 34 per cent of 314 drivers were over.

The East Gate entrance is located by Summit and McGill and West Gate is at Hillside and McGill.

“This highlights the need for all drivers to slow down, drive the speed limit and watch for pedestrians,” said Stacey Jyrkkanen, TRU’s manager of Health & Safety; Medical Services & Emergency Management.

“With the weather conditions making driving treacherous at times, it is even more important to slow down and drive for the road conditions,” said Jyrkkanen.

She said this year’s figures are an improvement over the survey in October of last year when of 282 motorists at East Gate, 62 per cent were over. Of 218 at West Gate, 45 per cent were over.

“We have more vehicles than ever before entering the campus and while the number of drivers driving at the limit has increased over last year, there is still a high number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit,” said Jyrkkanen.

The fastest recorded speed for this year was 67km/h at West Gate. The highest for East Gate was 61km/h. A year ago, the highest speed was 57km/h at East Gate and 76km/h at West Gate.

The next Speed Watch is scheduled for the spring.

BREAKING THE NUMBERS DOWN FOR 2012
East Gate
Total motorists — 330
Driving within the limit — 53%
Driving over the limit 47%
10km/h over — 39%
11-20km/h over — 7.7%
21km/h over — 0.35%
Highest speed recorded — 67km/h

West Gate
Total motorists — 314
Driving within the limit — 66%
Driving over the limit — 34%
10km/h over the limit — 31%
11-20km/h over the limit — 3%
25km/h and more over the limit — 0.3%
Highest speed recorded — 61km/h

MORE INFORMATION
Stacey Jyrkkanen
Manager – Health & Safety; Medical Services & Emergency Management
Thompson Rivers University
Phone: 250-371-5805
Email: sjyrkkanen@tru.ca

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Speed Watch is a program designed to help reduce speed-related crashes by informing motorist of their speeds. Using portable radar equipment and electronic digital boards, drivers receive instant visual feedback on their speed.

Speed Watch is a partnership involving volunteer citizens, the RCMP, Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, and the City of Kamloops.