Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/370921
40 G O I N G P L A C E S | F A L L 2 0 1 4 ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF MANITOBA PUBLIC INSURANCE is akin to falling o a three-storey building; at 75 km/h, they're in for a seven-storey fall. Put another way, if you hit a pedestrian at a speed of 50 km/h, there's a 55 per cent chance of death; if you're going just 10 km/h slower, their odds of survival increase by 30 per cent. Paying the Price Even if the worst-case scenario doesn't play out, getting nabbed by police for exceeding the limit can result in a sizable hit to your bank account – thanks to both Manitoba's stiff speeding nes and the black mark it'll put on your insurance records. "If someone ignores that 30 km/h [school zone limit] and they're doing 50, that's gonna get them a 20 over the speed limit, so they'll get a ne of $312.25," says Manitoba Public Insurance spokesperson Brian Smiley. "But that will also result in two demerits on a person's Driver Safety Rating," he contin- ues. "It's a discount/penalty system [used by insurance companies]. At the top of the scale, a person has 15 merits with a discount on their insurance of 33 per cent . . . and the dis- counts work from 33 per cent right down to zero. Going in the opposite direction, it starts at zero and moves its way down to minus-20 per cent. In that case, you're paying what we call an additional driver premium, and a per- son will [possibly] pay $2,500 for their driver's licence when they go to renew. So, you can see, it's punitive." Kid Power Another integral component of making school zones safer lies in ensuring children are con- ducting themselves appropriately. That's where the CAA School Safety Patrol program comes in. e Manitoba chapter of this inter- national enterprise was started in 1936 by Louise Staples, a teacher looking to protect the kids at Greenway Elementary from vehicles servicing a nearby armoury. Soon after, CAA Manitoba took responsi- bility for the program, and in the years since, it has grown to include over 10,000 students at schools across the province. You've no doubt seen them on your daily commute – students and their adult supervisors dressed in yellow vests, using ags to signal and shepherd other kids through intersections. CAA Manitoba helps provide all necessary equipment to the schools for free and coordi- nates with local safety authorities to facilitate proper training. "One of the biggest things that hinder stu- dents from walking to school is the perceived lack of safety," says Mager. "So these patrols really help, especially with younger kids, in Travelling even 10 km/h less can reduce the force of a crash, which could be the difference between life and death. By speeding or not driving to road con- ditions, you're putting yourself, fellow motorists and pedestrians at great risk and ensuring they're significantly more likely to be killed in a collision. 50 km/h 75 km/h 100 km/h 25% of pedestrians will be killed in a collision at 40 km/h. 55% of pedestrians will be killed in a collision at 50 km/h. 85% of pedestrians will be killed in a collision at 60 km/h. SPEED LIMIT 60 SPEED LIMIT 50 SPEED LIMIT 40