Careful, drivers, these kids are watching your every move

Armed with a radar gun and their own keen eyes, students at an Ottawa elementary school got a street-level look at speeding and distracted driving last week.

The Grade 5 and 6 class at St. Cecilia School in Barrhaven was participating in a course offered by the Ottawa Safety Council that included a 45-minute session observing traffic in front of their school on Cambrian Road.

The course wants to create awareness about the dangers posed by drivers who don't follow the rules — and there was no shortage of examples for the students.

"A lot of people were calling and texting each other," said Samantha Lo as she glanced at her data table. "It's not safe for that to happen because if you get distracted an accident can happen."

In addition to spotting speeding drivers, students Frank and Priscilla Wang were also on the lookout for distracted drivers. They spotted plenty. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

Using a radar gun about the size of a hair dryer, students Tony Velasquez and Addison Shaw caught one driver travelling 62 km/h in front of the school where the posted limit is 40 km/h during school hours.

"It's weird, they shouldn't be going that fast," said Velasquez.

"It's pretty sad to be honest because it's sort of a law that you can't go over the limit," added Shaw.

Their classmate Yufei Jiang reported that not only were most of the drivers she tracked travelling above the speed limit, many were also driving distracted.

"One person was holding the phone in one hand talking and the other hand was on the steering wheel driving."

St. Cecilia student Addison Shaw says it's sad that drivers speed near her school. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

Raising awareness

The radar gun and accompanying data collection tutorial is part of the council's Walk Safe course offered in schools.

Instructor Cindy Embury-Mulhern, who also works as a crossing guard, has been teaching the course for seven years.

"They actually get to see the problem in real time and I think it impacts them more," she said.

"They become more aware when they're crossing the road, or maybe in a few years when they're behind the wheel of a car."

Embury-Mulhern said the most frequent infractions by far are drivers failing to stop at stop signs or doing a rolling stop at red lights to make right turns, which the students are quick to point out.

"They get pretty excited sometimes and they yell at the drivers so we have to remind them to keep it down, let the drivers do their thing, and simply observe."

Cindy Embury-Mulhern of the Ottawa Safety Council visits elementary schools to teach students about road safety. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

Teacher Maya Tomczak says she was surprised by the students' observations since the city recently installed a speed camera in front of the school.

She added that the course helps the children improve their street smarts.

"We teach our kids a lot of safety inside the school and in the yard, but we never really have the opportunity to be out here by the road looking around and being more aware of our surroundings," she said.

Drew Howell, one of Tomczak's students, said the course has encouraged him to be sure he doesn't one day become a distracted driver.

"People should wait to call people," he said. "We should stop looking at our phones while driving."