This program has been developed with flexibility thus allowing each school to address their own specific needs and concerns. This means making choices which may be less convenient but more safe. . The job of the Parent Parking Patrol is to use positive peer pressure to encourage parents and students to choose safety over convenience and reduce the potential for disaster. Careless habits in school areas at critical times can create catastrophic and sometimes fatal results. Arrival and departure times mean increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic with a large number of people, concentrated in a relatively small area.
Increased traffic can mean congestion and congestion brings the potential for disaster.
Many of the schools in Manitoba were designed years ago to meet lower student and vehicular volumes. However, design problems are only a small part of the cause of traffic safety problems. The majority of traffic safety problems stem from the unsafe actions of parents and students who choose convenience over safety. Unsafe student behaviors include jay-walking and running between parked cars. Unsafe parent behaviors include making illegal U-turns, parking illegally, and even speeding.