With students heading back to school, our roads will get busier. Help prevent collisions and ensure that everyone arrives at their destination safely.
August 22, 2024
Road safety around school zones
This year, the City will install nine traffic calming projects near school zones to help reduce speeding and aggressive driving. The City uses design features like speed humps and raised pedestrian crossings to slow down vehicles.
The City also has automated speed enforcement cameras in 50 school zones to help combat speeding on streets near schools. These cameras are already in place and will rotate to other school zones throughout the school year. These cameras support the 30 km/h speed limit in school zones – an initiative that was completed in 2022.
Crossing guard program
The City has more than 215 school crossing guards at more than 160 locations who will be ready on the first day of school. Crossing guards help school children from kindergarten to fifth grade cross the road safely.
The City’s Mississauga School Traffic Safety Action Committee conducts site inspections and safety reviews at or near schools on request to help find opportunities to improve student safety and safety for all road users.
School Walking Routes program
The City has a School Walking Routes program that promotes active travel, such as walking or travelling by bike, wheelchair or other mobility devices, to and from school. School Route signs installed around the neighbourhood guide students on their way to school and alert drivers to watch for children.
Drivers driving to their destination
When driving, remember to:
- Stay alert and obey posted speed limits.
- Pay special attention near schools for pedestrians and cyclists, especially when turning and in areas with many stopped cars.
- Always follow a school crossing guard’s stop sign.
- Never proceed through crossings until students have completely crossed.
- Stop for school buses with flashing red lights, and never attempt to overtake them.
- Tune your playlist, fix your GPS and sync your Bluetooth before you leave. Once you’re behind the wheel, your attention should only be on the road.
When driving your student to school:
- Follow signage and rules, especially at drop-off and pick-up locations.
- Never pick up or drop off your student where they must cross the road between stopped cars.
- Reduce congestion and improve safety in front of the school by only driving partway to school, and walking or biking the rest of the way.
Students and families walking, cycling or taking a bus to school
Stay safe while travelling to school by:
- Planning your route in advance.
- Crossing streets only at designated crosswalks or crossrides, where possible.
- Always following your crossing guard’s instructions if they’re on your route.
- Ensuring your helmets are worn when biking, scootering or skateboarding.
- Walking your device across roads when no crossrides are available.
- Making sure to follow all railway-crossing safety rules if your school route is near a railway crossing.
- Standing back from the curb and not approaching the bus until it comes to a full stop when waiting for a school bus or MiWay bus.
For more road safety information and additional safety tips, visit mississauga.ca/roadsafety. For more information about Vision Zero, visit mississauga.ca/visionzero.