In Lloydminster, summer still sounds the way it should, kids’ laughter, skipping rope, chasing soccer balls, riding bikes and playing tag until the streetlights flicker on. It’s reassuring, almost nostalgic, to see children outside instead of glued to screens. Some of us believed those days didn’t exist anymore.
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But here’s the thing, with all that joyful noise comes risk, and too many of us are pretending not to see it.
Our neighbourhoods are being used as shortcuts and turnaround points for transport trucks, some of them hauling dangerous goods like jet fuel. It’s
happening in plain sight and it’s alarming.
On a recent visit to the roundabout near the east-end Tim Hortons, I watched transport trucks of all sizes treat it like a personal racetrack. They go around circling left or right, depending on their load, barreling through at speeds that make your stomach turn.
It’s not a matter of if something’s going to happen. It’s when.
Legally, most trucks and loads are allowed to travel on these roads. The city has posted some parking restrictions for large vehicles and does its best to provide speed enforcement. However, there is no legislation that gives dangerous goods drivers permission to stray from those routes because they want a coffee or nap, etc.
Speed enforcement, when able, is great, but speed isn’t the only problem. Trucks don’t belong on both sides of a residential street. They shouldn’t be
whipping around roundabouts in an area kids play every day and they don’t belong near neighbourhoods carrying flammable cargo. The solution comes down to more enforcement by a provincial body like Ministry of Highways
officers in Saskatchewan.
So, yes, it’s summer. The kids are out and carefree, as they should be. But the adults? We should be doing better. That means slowing down, paying
attention and demanding accountability from those behind the wheel and in city hall. Safety can’t be optional just because enforcement is inconvenient or
legalities are murky.
If we’re too busy or too indifferent to notice what’s happening, we’re not just failing at traffic safety, we’re failing our kids.
For more information on bylaws, go to the City of Lloydminster’s website and search bylaws.
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