The start of a new school year can be an anxious time for students as they prepare to navigate new social circles and scholastic pressures. It’s also an anxious time for parents as they navigate increasingly congested school zones and dangerous driving behaviours that can put their children in peril.
A new CAA South Central Ontario (SCO) survey reflects those fears, with eight in 10 Ontario parents saying traffic buildup during drop-off and pick-up is getting worse year over year, and 83 per cent having reported seeing unsafe driving behaviour in their child’s school zone.
“Every parent wants to see their child get to school safely, and an increase in vehicle traffic in these areas can pose a serious safety risk to young road users,” says Lauren Fisher, the manager of government relations for CAA SCO.
“Our survey reveals that parents are choosing to drive their kids to school because of the distance between home and school, convenience and traffic safety concerns.”
Sixty-three per cent of parents polled actually consider their child’s school zone “very unsafe” — up from 55 per cent in 2023.
“Speeding, stopping in undesignated areas and double parking are all commonly reported unsafe driving behaviours parents see in their child’s school zones,” says Fisher. “To help deal with that, most parents are in favour of increasing safety precautions in school zones, including improved enforcement and penalties.”
Some enforcement techniques parents have shown an openness to, are reducing the speed limit in school zones, with nearly half saying 30km/h should be the max speed, and erecting automated Speed Enforcement cameras, which many parents believe is an effective deterrent in school zones.
The online survey was conducted by DIG Insights in May 2025, with 1,511 Ontario parents/guardians with children attending school from kindergarten to grade 8. Based on the sample size of n=1,511 and with a confidence level of 95 per cent, the margin of error for this research is +/-2%.)
