PACE program helps with safety on the road 0
By Angela Brown, Portage Daily Graphic
Carole Lupkowski and her children Carter, left, and Tessa, right, show the Neighbourhood PACE Car logo their vehicle sports to encourage drivers to slow down and watch their speed. (Angela Brown, Portage Daily Graphic)
As the roads become busier with the start of school next month, a group of volunteers wants to make sure that people remember to drive safely.
Through the Neighbourhood PACE Car Program, participating drivers are careful to follow the speed limit, so they can be a good example for other drivers on the road.
Organizers are once again encouraging people to get on board with the program aimed to make the roads safer for traffic and pedestrians alike.
"We are doing another little push this fall," said Dianna Meseyton-Neufeld, Healthy Living Facilitator with Southern Regional Health Authority.
"It's an ongoing program. We try to recruit more people every so often with a bit of a push, so the start of school is a good time for that,” she said. “(It’s also to) remind people who have already signed their pledge form to renew their pledge, and to start thinking more about safety because of the increased amount of pedestrians and traffic around the schools."
The way the program works is that people who volunteer to act as PACE drivers, sign a form indicating their participation and their promise not to exceed the speed limit. They then receive a PACE sticker, which they put in the back window of their car to identify their vehicle as a PACE car.
"We are going to increase awareness about the program, to get people excited and hopefully signing their pledge forms," said Meseyton-Neufeld. "We are going to be working this fall with some of the schools, trying to work with their student councils and parent councils ... We are also going to be working with some of the day cares and school organizations."
The PACE program is a community initiative offered through the partnership of the RHA, Portage Community Revitalization Corp., Portage School Division, the City of Portage, and the RCMP.
Any community member can get involved in the PACE program, which is provided through Safe Kids Canada. To participate, they need to sign the pledge form that shows they want to be a safe driver, and follow the rules of the road to help prevent possible accidents and injuries from happening.
Portage resident Carole Lupkowski, who is parent and also a member of the Ecole Arthur Meighen School Home and School Association, has been a PACE participant for going on three years.
"We are more concerned with keeping the speed limit and also watching out for other traffic …," she said. "We always have to be cognizant that we are watching our speed and watching the traffic around us."
angela.brown@sunmedia.ca
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