How many times have you witnessed careless and aggressive driving, and wanted to report the driver? Well, you have the chance to do so on York’s Keele and Glendon campuses, because the University is proactive in assuring the security of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
York has a Road Watch program that was born of a similar program set up by the Ontario Provincial Police. With over 30,000 vehicles on campus roadways every day, the University decided to adopt the program in March 2000, to promote safe driving on campus.
How does the Road Watch Program work on the campuses? "It integrates three components considered essential to the modification of driver behaviour and attitude: education, awareness and enforcement," says Richard Pilkington, operations manager, Security, Parking & Transportation Services.
Aggressive and careless driving can be reported directly over the Internet by clicking on the Road Watch symbol located on the York Security Homepage, www.yorku.ca/security/.
"It is important for complainants to include the license plate number on the electronic form so the owner of the vehicle can be traced," says Pilkington, "And the forms must have the complainant’s details on it, before action will be taken." The name of the person reporting the incident remains confidential within Security, Parking & Transportation Services, he assures.
After receiving the report, staff issue a detailed advisory letter to the registered owner of the vehicle. If there is a second infraction then another advisory letter is sent. And if a third infraction is reported, non-community members would be banned from driving on University property and community members would be dealt with according to various codes of conduct in force at York.
Pilkington says the success of the program has increased as more people have become aware of Road Watch.