The results are in from last month's Traffic Safety Spotlight put on by local law enforcement and SGI. 

"During the month of September, police were watching for traffic violations in and around school zones," explained Tyler McMurchy, with SGI. "As a result of that traffic safety spotlight, they issued 449 tickets related to school zones."

  • 439 tickets for drivers speeding in school zones (tickets issued by police officers; there were also 1,542 photo speed enforcement tickets issued in school zones in September)
  • 7 tickets for drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in an intersection or crosswalk
  • 1 ticket to a pedestrian walking into the path of a vehicle
  • 2 tickets for drivers not obeying school bus safety lights

"It's a significant traffic concern because we know that school zones tend to be populate by children and children do not always cross the street safely. They sometimes expect vehicles to stop instantly and might not recognize the danger until it's too late."

"Motorists really need to pay attention to their speed and to their surroundings in school zones. Avoid distractions and make sure that they do their part to help everyone get to school safely."

He added that the penalty for speeding in those school zones is serious. 

"Speeding in school zones is more expensive than a regular speeding ticket. Fines start at $140, there's also a $50 victim of crime surcharge and you also get charged $2 for every kilometer per hour over the speed limit. So it is definitely an expensive lesson and one you don't want to learn the hard way."

And just because SGI's focus is now off school zones, doesn't mean your should be. 

"We are encouraging motorists to continue to pay attention to school zone, School is still in session, school tend to be busy places filled with children who may not always be aware of the dangers that motors pose to them especially when those roads start to get icy."

As well, there were other tickets issued in the province during the month. 

"Every month, no matter what the focus of the traffic safety spotlight is, we always get reports back from police on a number of other offences."

  • 277 impaired-driving related offences (including 268 Criminal Code charges)
  • 549 tickets for distracted driving (417 of those for using a cellphone while driving)
  • 392 tickets for inappropriate or no seatbelt/child safety seat
  • 4,445 speeding tickets

SGI is currently focusing on distracted driving for the month of October.  

READ MORE: #HeadsUp: SGI & Law Enforcement Targeting Distracted Drivers in October

READ MORE: School Zones Becoming More Dangerous, But You Can Help

READ MORE: Estevan Police "Not Seeing A High Level of Complaints" in School Zones