The Regina Police Service reminds motorists of the “Slow to 60” legislation for drivers passing emergency vehicles (with emergency lights activated) on Saskatchewan highways. This past weekend, police officers, carrying out speed enforcement on Regina’s Ring Road, saw too many examples of motorists ignoring the speed limit and “Slow to 60” legislation.
On Saturday, September 8, 2012, members of the Regina Police Service Traffic unit were conducting speed enforcement on the Ring Road. In just over three hours, police wrote 48 tickets for speeding on the Ring Road. The speed limit on the Ring Road is 100 km/hr. In that three hour period, the highest recorded speed was 146 km/hr; the average speed of those ticketed was 123 km/hr. Motorists are urged to drive for road conditions at all times, never exceeding the posted speed limit, which is the maximum under ideal conditions.
Enforcing speed limits on the Ring Road also pointed out an additional concern. During the speed enforcement project, there were a number of motorists who disregarded the “Slow to 60” legislation that requires drivers to slow their vehicles to 60 km/h when passing any emergency vehicles (including police carrying out speed enforcement) on our highways. Section 204(1) of the Traffic Safety Act states, “No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than 60 kilometres per hour when passing an emergency vehicle that is stopped on the highway with its emergency lights in operation”. (Note: section 204(2) gives exemptions for opposite direction of travel on a divided highway.) Section 205(1) of the Traffic Safety Act applies to motorists passing tow trucks with amber lights activated and giving assistance.
The Regina Police Service encourages motorists to obey traffic laws and help everyone, including emergency responders, get home safely.