The Grande Prairie RCMP is urging drivers to keep safety top of mind and speed below the limit, as the winter road conditions have given way to spring.
Grande Prairie RCMP Sergeant Shawn Graham says, with the snow melting, the roads are a little more visible now, but it doesn’t mean they are clear of potentially dangerous situations a driver could find themselves in before they know it.
“Speeding and aggressive driving is never worth the risk, to you, or other people,” he says. “No ice or snow on the roads, but loose gravel remains… so people really have to have the same manners as they would normally driving through the rest of the year.”
The Alberta RCMP says just over 70,000 speeding-related offences took place in 2021, with more than 5,000 of those coming in April alone. Graham says with the conditions the way they are around Grande Prairie, drivers must be cognizant that it’s not exactly a bare, dry road.
“Speeding certainly reduces the amount of time drivers have to react, especially with unexpected hazards, like loose gravel and potholes, and it puts the driver and everybody else at risk,” he says.
“The city is doing what they can to start cleaning it up, but you go to brake hard and you’re sliding on it,” he adds.
According to Alberta Transportation, more than 50 per cent of all fatal collisions involving unsafe speeds in Alberta occur in rural areas.