Dear editor:

Regarding “Not losing any sleep over vandalized speed cam” (The Lake Report, July 3).

We have lived in NOTL for well over 30 years and had been pretty confident (albeit, maybe a little too optimistically) in the safety of our children walking to and from, around, and playing, at their school years ago.

The traffic on Highway 55 and York Road near the current schools is vastly more dangerous. Yousaf Shaikh, of Glendale, states that they aren’t losing sleep over the vandalized speed cams because “look, we’re all humans and we make mistakes.”

Well, a “mistake,” as you call it, with a two+ tonne surging hunk of metal could cost a child, at the very least, a broken limb, or far worse, the freedom to walk or think again, or the unimaginable, their life.

Just a small increase in speed, let alone over the variance of speed allowed by the cameras, could be devastating.

Children do make mistakes, and dart out into traffic, or fall, as they are learning about the seriousness of traffic safety. Drivers are supposed to be adults and are expected to follow rules.

It is a community’s responsibility to protect all children. The cameras are proven to promote the necessary, habitually attentive driving.

So, no more mistakes. Distracted driving kills. Stop making excuses to play Russian roulette with children’s lives and follow the flipping rules.

If hefty tickets (or just the threat) slow people down, the mission will have been accomplished. Vandalism of all of Ontario’s safety cameras is costing the taxpayers thousands.

I hope the judge prosecutes the vandals of the cameras to the fullest extent of the law.

Lani Parkinson
St. Davids