Driving faster on a certain Vernon road might actually be safer

VERNON – Motorists may be able to cruise a little quicker on a high-use stretch of road.

Vernon city council is reviewing an earlier decision which lowered the speed limit on 25 Avenue near Ellison Elementary School to 50 km/h from 80.

“That’s the longest, straightest, widest road in the city,” Coun. Mary Jo O’Keefe said. “And you have very good visibility in terms of people on the road or cars.”

O’Keefe has personally witnessed road rage in that area as drivers lean on their horns in frustration. She even had someone in her own car question why she was slowing down there.

"I’m not sure that while our intent was to create more safety, that we haven’t actually done just the opposite and created an area that people are getting angry and creating safety issues,” she said.

While the area sees a lot of foot and vehicle traffic before and after school, O’Keefe said there are times of the day when not a single other car or pedestrian can be seen.

“There’s no appreciable reason to slow down like that,” she said.

An option would be to post a reduced speed limit between 7-9 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. when the road is busiest, O’Keefe suggested.

“At that point there’s clearly a need for people to be more aware and to slow down. Those hours are very identifiable though and perhaps we should be only be making people slow down during those times.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helsotn at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.