Oliver Speed Watch volunteers are concerned about speeding in a neighbhourhood near you. Shown here are Ron Johnson (foreground) and Jim Johnstone monitoring speeds on Highway 97 north of Town.
Members of Oliver Speed Watch (OSW) are concerned that Oliver drivers are pushing the pedal too far to the metal.
Each month the volunteer civilian organization clocks drivers’ speeds as they zoom through certain areas in town and records the results. According to Ron Johnson, last month’s numbers are startling.
On June 5 volunteers recorded the speed of 359 vehicles over an approximately two-hour period near lunchtime. More than 75 per cent of them were speeding.
That day, between 11:14 a.m. and 12:14 p.m., volunteers clocked the speed of 177 vehicles driving through the 30 kilometre-per-hour school zone on Fairview Road.
While 61 drivers (less than 35 per cent) were at or below the speed limit, 116 were going faster than the law allows. Most were travelling less than 20 kilometres over the limit, but 12 of them were zooming more than 20 kilometres faster than legally allowed.
Between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. OSW also recorded 182 drivers travelling on Tucelnuit Drive just north of the golf course. There, nearly 85 per cent of drivers were going faster than the 50 kilometre an hour limit.
Again, most were travelling less than 20 kilometres over the limit, but 19 were going more than 20 kilometres too fast. Four were going at least 30 kilometres over the limit.
Johnson called these results “not very satisfying.”
“Actually I am quite concerned about it. Number one: if you’re speeding, you’re breaking the law. Number two: in places like Oliver and Osoyoos people come out from side streets without stopping [and] accidents happen.”
Johnson said that he is worried chronic speeding could lead to more tragic accidents on Oliver’s streets in the future.
“I’d like people to be more aware and slow down. If you take a look at the speeds you get through town, going 20 kilometres faster than the limit you’re only saving yourself maybe 30 seconds,” he said.
“Is it really worth it? No.”
He said he would like to see the RCMP set up “zero tolerance” zones to ticket anyone travelling even a kilometre over the limit.
Johnson said that despite the high number of speeders on Oliver’s streets, he believes the local RCMP are doing a decent job.
“They are doing the best they can with the resources they have,” he said. “We have a real good bunch of guys here right now.
The Oliver RCMP did not provide The Chronicle with a spokesperson to comment on speeding in town. In an email area commander Sgt. Blaine Gervais did not answer questions about the frequency of speeding in Oliver or the RCMP’s approach to enforcing speed limits. He did applaud Oliver Speed Watch volunteers for their “great” community service.
He wrote that the OSW’s presence monitoring the roads is important because it helps remind drivers to slow down, and pointed out that the organization also provides valuable information to the RCMP.
“If OSW identify an increase in traffic offences being committed in a certain area they will advise RCMP members who can then focus enforcement in these same areas,” he wrote.
By Trevor Nichols
