A playground zone in British Columbia is marked with a yellow diamond advisory sign. This tells drivers that they may find children present on the road and that they should use caution to avoid a crash. These signs are in effect from sunrise to sunset every day, all year around.
Playground Zone Law in British Columbia
147 (2) A person driving a vehicle on a highway must drive the vehicle at a rate of speed not exceeding 30 km/h when approaching or passing, between dawn and dusk, a public playground for children where signs are displayed stating a speed limit of 30 km/h, or on which the numerals "30" are prominently shown.
The penalty for speeding in a playground zone varies according to the amount that the limit is exceeded by. Fines start at $196 and could reach as much as $483 and include a vehicle impound.
Drivers will receive three penalty points on conviction.
Setting the Speed
The yellow diamond sign alone is a warning that a driver needs to take into account depending on the road conditions. A slower speed than the posted limit approaching the zone may be required if vulnerable road users are present.
If a black on white 30 km/h tab is added below the yellow diamond, the combination of signs is now a legal requirement to drive no faster than that speed inside the playground zone.
45 x 45 cm |
30 KILOMETRES PER HOUR TAB (Regulatory) When used below the Playground Area (Warning) sign the tab establishes a 30 kilometre per hour zone from dawn to dusk daily. The back of the sign assembly for the opposite direction of travel terminates the 30 km/h speed zone. |
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Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Projects
Part 13 of the Motor Vehicle Act allows municipalities to try pilot projects by implementing a bylaw. It would appear that Vancouver and Penticton have chosen to make playground zones 30 km/h at all times of the day every day.
This is supposed to be published on "a government website" so that the public is aware of it. My efforts to find anything on "a government website" about this have not met with any success, although television news has published information about the pilot in Vancouver.
Outside of British Columbia
Rules for playground zones may vary outside of our province. Differences could include:
- A maximum speed lower than 30 km/h
- Different times of operation
- No passing restrictions
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How exactly do you determine the time of sunrise/sunset? Obviously most of the day it's not a question, but it might be an important point around the sunrise/sunset time.
Is it astronomical sunrise/sunset time for each day? Somebody told me you can follow the street lights. If street lights are off, the playground sign and speed limit is in effect. And when the street lights turn on, the sign and speed limit are off. Is that correct?
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The National Research Council of Canada has a sunrise/sunset calculator. You can calculate based on observatory, city or GPS location.
Street lighting might be leaving it a bit late. I have home lighting that I've automated based on my GPS location and find that the calculated sunset is just a bit too soon to turn on the lights. I aim for a half hour after for outside lights.
Of course, if you can see the horizon from where you are once the sun appears or disappears would be accurate.
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Did you know that avoiding rolling over a running kid when driving at 30 k/h is IMPOSSIBLE
THE LAW should not put the burden on the driver but they should use engineering principles to prevent kids from running on the path of a car.
I saw an accident like this happen in front of my eyes. The driver was probably doing 20 km/h.
When a person takes the first step there is no turning back. That 0.4 m of movement in less than 0.5 seconds has left so many children with lasting injuries or death.
I wish that we would have a task force to fix the law created by people who issues legislation without having all the needed experience.
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While I agree that stopping for a child darting out at 30km is not possible, I disagree with your premise that the law is wrong.
We need to talk into account all of the traffic laws that govern this situation, and apply all of them.
30km is the maximum posted speed.
There is no parking permitted in playground zones.
If I'm traveling 30 through a playground zone, that speed limit is to provide me enough of a buffer that I have time to see situations that will require me to further reduce my speed.
No kids on our near the playground? I can keep traveling 30 and continue to scan the surroundings for a change to that.
Lots of kids present? A couple bikes in the grass, but no kids visible? Something obstructing my view of the playground (overgrown foliage, illegally parked cars, or something else)? I need to slow down further, because the situation warrants it and I may be required to brake suddenly.
I travel though a school zone daily on my route to drop off my own kids at school. I travel closer to 20km through this zone because of the narrow road way (lots of legally and illegally parked cars), lots of pedestrians on sidewalks and jaywalking, people waiting at crosswalks and kids on bicycles. When I pass by these individuals and vehicles, I often reduce my speed even further based on behavior and proximity. (If someone is going to be within 1-2m of my vehicle when I pass, I had better be crawling by, or stopped for them to cross).
We as drivers need to be asking ourselves constantly, if "X" were to happen, would I have time to stop?
It's unreasonable to post 10km speed limits everywhere, when the majority of the time that's unnecessary. The problem isn't the rules, it's that too many drivers aren't interpreting and applying them appropriately/correctly.
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Laws are fine. There is a science behind 30 km/h. Google "speed impact on pedestrian death". First link would show: Pedestrians have been shown to have a 90% chance of survival when struck by a car travelling at 30 km/h or below, but less than 50% chance of surviving an impact at 45 km/h. Pedestrians have almost no chance of surviving an impact at 80 km/hr.
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How do you determine sunset?