Plateau school amid bad traffic habits
Le Devoir reports on a school in the Plateau surrounded by bad drivers who disobey the crossing guard and are generally bad‑tempered. One strange suggestion is that Mont-Royal ought to be reopened to traffic even sooner in the season, to allow drivers to adjust their habits before school starts.
jeather 11:49 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
Perhaps enabling crossing guards to ticket drivers for some specific infractions would help.
Spi 11:59 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
While the crossing guard is handing out tickets, who’s actually doing crossing guard duties?
Ian 12:05 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
Crossing guards are actually part of the SPVM, it’s not that much of a stretch 😀
In all seriousness though when they are doing that kind of thing there’s usully a squad car or two with a radar gun.
jeather 12:32 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
A second crossing guard who is, one assumes, not paid on cop scales? I have no idea, but if they only do occasional blitzes near schools they could do more.
Tim 12:56 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
If a car makes contact with you and leaves it’s a hit and run. Get the license plate and phone it into 911.
Blork 16:34 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
Enabling crossing guards to hand out tickets is a big ask, as it means all sorts of extra training and certification, blah blah blah. Given that most crossing guards are just retired or semi-retired people, or neighbourhood friendlies, etc., that would be seen by some as the militarization of crossing guards. (Unless they created a special category of “crossing guard constable” or something, and only deployed those at troublesome places.)
A more direct and quick solution (or at least semi-solution) would be to actually put a cop or two on foot patrol around schools that are experiencing this kind of problem. It wouldn’t be permanent; just for a week or two, to make the point, with occasional random visits afterwards.
Meezly 16:41 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
I was rather shocked to learn earlier this year that our kid’s brigadiere, whose post is Blvd St-Laurent, experiences rudeness and verbal abuse from drivers on a semi-regular basis. You gotta be some level of asshole hurling insults at someone who’s duty is to ensure children won’t get hit by speeding one-ton vehicles.
Tim S. 17:24 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
I don’t see how a crossing guard could give out tickets and be a crossing guard at the same time, but I think there could be an intermediate step where they can given police comms (though see yesterday’s story) to report dangerous drivers immediately and have their reports taken more seriously than ordinary citizens. Considering how often we hear that we can’t have police at every corner, crossing guards do seem like an under-used resource.
Joey 18:07 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
Cameras + people who monitor them = recommendations for the police to give tickets. It would pay for itself and then some.
Nicholas 20:54 on 2023-09-11 Permalink
Here’s a fun idea: every time a driver is rude to a crossing guard, we close/dead-end that intersection to cars for a day. Also put up big signs blaming driver rudeness for the closure. Crossing guard still gets paid to be cheerful to the kids. Collective inconvenience.
Blork 19:57 on 2023-09-12 Permalink
Nicolas: cute, but that would be hacked from day 1, when people who WANT the street closed to traffic start going there and deliberately yelling at the guards with the specific purpose of closing the street.