All hands on deck in Niagara

Niagara police were taking no chances with safety on the first day of school.

Every available officer was re-assigned to traffic duty Tuesday. They were targeting more than 70 school zones from Grimsby to Fort Erie. Officers stopped 260 vehicles and handed out 138 speeding tickets. One person was clocked going 91 kilometres an hour in a 50 zone. There were also charges laid for seatbelt violations and distracted drivers. Three drivers had their licenses suspended. And one person was arrested for breach of probation.

Chief Jeff McGuire was on hand and commented:

“I guarantee you today, probably at this school here even, we’ll get seat belt violations, we’ll get people talking on their phones as they’re driving up with the kids, and we’ve just got to drive home the importance of paying attention, particularly in the school areas. You know, we joke about kids not wanting to go back to school. Truth is, these little kids are so excited to go back to school, they don’t concentrate and we have to help them remember too to pay attention.”

Police are often surprised what they find during this first day of school blitz. A couple of years ago in Fort Erie, they pulled over a school bus driver who was drunk.