THUNDER BAY -- Kelly Kutok wants drivers in this city to slow down.
A civilian member of the Thunder Bay Police Service’s Zone Watch program, Kutok says drivers often aren’t aware that speed plays a major factor in the severity of collisions, which is why they’ve decided to launch No Need for Speed, a campaign aimed at convincing lead-footed drivers to lighten up on the gas while driving around town.
To emphasize their point they’ve stationed a severely wrecked SUV alongside a campaign billboard at a highly visible, heavily trafficked route at the corner of Fort William Road and the Harbour Expressway.
Kutok said Monday she hopes the two combined will get the message across.
“You don’t have to drive exactly the speed limit, but speeding does affect us all. Nobody wants to have the police knocking at their door saying that somebody’s been in an accident,” Kutok said.
In reality, she added, speeding only shaves a few seconds off the length of a trip, especially driving in the city.
“Leave 10 minutes early, if you feel you need to get there faster,” she said.
Speeding is definitely a problem in Thunder Bay, Kutok said.
“I think it definitely is,” she said.
“We have a lot of straight streets where people think they can go faster. Even though this street is posted at 70 and 20 kilometres can actually make a big difference in an impact.”
Traffic Sgt. Glenn Porter said police see far too often the results of drivers failing to obey posted speed signs. With winter weather in the not-too-distant future, it’s that much more important to get the anti-speeding message across.
“That’s going to change things dramatically. Speed will become a very critical part of everybody’s driving behaviours,” Porter said.
“Your ability to stop is what determines whether you’re going to have a serious collision or not. Speed, or your velocity as we like to think of it, is one of the easiest factors that you can change as a driver.”
Porter said police have handed out thousands of speeding tickets this year, and while those people may have learned to slow down, others continue to race along city roads.
“It is a problem,” he said, noting so too is distracted, impaired and aggressive driving.
The campaign could be a successful one, Porter said.
“When the tow-truck was here earlier today dropping the vehicle off, as soon as the tow-truck driver drove away, three people came in and asked me, was the driver killed. It’s that visual. It’s easy to see,” he said.
Porter noted Thunder Bay isn’t unique when it comes to the number of drivers who choose to speed. To complement the awareness campaign, police will be handing out No Need for Speed key chains at holiday Ride programs.
