What are the school zone hours in BC?
School zone signs are in the shape of a house and are in effect 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM on school days unless otherwise posted, including posted summer school days.
Are school zones in effect during summer in BC?
Some school zones are in effect during summer in British Columbia. Those schools with summer school in session will have an obvious “summer school in session” sign attached to the school zone sign so that drivers don’t need to be confused. Otherwise, school zones are not in effect during summer, winter, spring break, or other non-school days.
What is the fine for speeding in a school zone in BC?
Speeding in a school zone will cost at least $196 to $253 in British Columbia, and comes with three driver penalty points.
| MVA | Ticket | Fine | Points |
| 147(1) | Speed in a school zone | $196-$253 | 3 |
| 147(2) | Speed in a playground zone | $196-$253 | 3 |
| 148(1) | Excessive speed | $368-$483 | 3 |
British Columbia School Zone Signs
More School Zone Signs British Columbia
Here is the classic school zone sign. Notice the shape of the sign. It looks a bit like a house, and the sign has the 30 km/hr tab underneath. The speed limit is on a sign with a white background, so we know that’s a regulation sign (speed signs on a yellow background are recommendations, not law).
Exclusive school zone sign shape
The school zone sign is the only sign that uses this particular shape. In other words, you’ll never see a sign with this shape, saying “Stop” or anything else on it. This is the dedicated shape of the school zone sign for British Columbia.
School Zone Sign Without Speed Limit
Sometimes people get confused when they see school zone signs without a speed limit tab attached.
Simply, if there’s no speed limit attached to the sign, then the speed limit on the road you are on doesn’t change because of the sign. Your job as a driver is to read the road signs, not to be psychic.
Where Does The School Zone End?
Look for the backs of road signs – a particular shape
If you want to figure out where the school zone ends, then look for the back of the sign. It’s a very particular shape. You will find it on the opposite side of the road for the traffic facing you.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this is a little bizarre, and would rather just have another sign to indicate the end of the zone. But this is just the way it is around here.
I guess it makes sense; it just feels strange to try to be searching bushy and hard-to-see areas on the opposite side of the road. I thought there would be somewhere better for my eyes to be looking, but oh well. I guess it’s a nice idea in theory.
School Zones In Burnaby – 7 am until 10 pm
Burnaby School Zones Are Now in Effect From 7 am Until 10 pm
Burnaby has some interesting school zones. It recently (March 2021) updated its city’s school zone laws, and has shiny new signs to go with them.
The new laws indicate that the school zones are in effect from 7 am until 10 pm.
Burnaby isn’t the first or only city to change its school zones. Vancouver also made some changes to theirs.
Speed Restriction When Children On Highway Road Sign
School and Playground Zones “When Children On Highway”
Question: I have a question about school and playground zones. Sometimes I see the playground zone speed limitation. Once I was driving around a playground in Maple Ridge, and the sign says “30km/h when children on the highway”.
I could see children playing inside the playground, but they’re nobody actually on the road or the shoulder, so should I drive at 30 or 50?
Black And White Signs
You only ‘have to slow down to the posted speed when the child/children are on the road or shoulder.
Conclusion
School zones often perplex new drivers, especially during summer when there may be summer school, or children obviously playing at lots of different parks, playgrounds, and schools.
The thing to remember is that you’re not supposed to be psychic.
Just like any other time you’re driving, your job is to pay attention to the road signs and follow their instructions. If you see an area where kids are playing but there are no speed signs, then you aren’t officially in a speed zone.
However – just like any other time you are driving – you can always slow down if you think it’s a good idea for that particular moment. It’s part of being a good defensive driver.
During summer, school zones are not in effect, unless they have an obvious ‘summer school’ tab attached.
Oh and one more thing: by the time your vehicle gets to the playground zone or school zone sign, your vehicle needs to be going a maximum of 30 km/hr already.
Many student drivers ask if you must slow down before you see the sign, or after you see the sign. The answer is before so that your car is going to the legal limit once your car reaches the post that the sign is on.
That’s just good to know, especially for road tests. Similarly, do not speed before you are out of the speed zone. Wait until your vehicle is actually past the end of the zone sign to increase speed. If you are preparing for your ICBC road test, be sure to check out these popular articles: ICBC Road Test Tips for Class 5 & 7 [Instructor Gets Deep] and ICBC Road Test Class 5 vs 7 [Prepare & Conquer].
Carmen Cohoe
Carmen became a driving instructor in beautiful North Vancouver at the age of 22 due to some crazy people who agreed to hire her. After that, there was never a dull moment teaching many different folks from many different places how to drive using automatic and standard vehicles and a minivan.
Hi Carmen. I have a road test coming up August 8th. The school zone signs are still up in the town of Hope and posted at 30 km/h. Not sure what to do. School is out for the summer and was wondering if I decide to err on the side of caution and do the 30 km/h, could I flunk the road test for doing so by driving too slow?
Yes yes you can flunk for driving too slowly for sure! What’s the speed limit on the road where the school is before the school zone starts? Is it 50 km/hr? Is there summer school or summer school signs?? What I would do is just ask the examiner right Before the road test just to confirm, you are allowed to ask them that before you go and any other question too.
Right on! Thank you for your incredibly quick reply! The posted speed on the road where the schools are is 50 km/h and there are no summer school signs. I was thinking of trying to contact the local school district ( Who knows if they can be contacted during summer break ) to ask if there are any school related activities going on in the district and thanks to your answer, I will ask the examiner before the road test. Thanks again. Very much appreciated! Oh, and another question.
This is regarding pedestrians and cross walks. If you are approaching an uncontrolled intersection with no stop signs or traffic lights and you see a pedestrian enter the crosswalk on the far side of the intersection, where should you stop? Just before the crosswalk right before you enter the intersection? I am thinking you maybe shouldn’t be stopping in the middle of the intersection and blocking the road to any potential cross traffic. I hope this maybe kind of convoluted question makes sense. Those were the only two questions I had. I am pretty darn sure that everything else will be smooth sailing. And no, in case you may be wondering, that is not over confidence speaking, it is 40 plus years driving experience and months of brushing up on the Road Safety BC and ICBC rules of the road of today and reading many, many of your excellent Blogs! I had let my Class 1 BCDL of many years lapse for over 3 years, thus the requirement for a road test. Ok, enough of me rambling on and on. Thank you again!
Randy
Hi again glad you found all of this helpful I’ve been working on it more than 4 years while wondering if anyone was reading it haha.
Did you use the search function for that question? I’m sure I wrote something about that. It’s in my ebook too which is for sale on the website all those intersection details. I don’t think you have to ask anyone if there’s any school activities going on, just keep your eyes open and remember you are always allowed to drive at whatever the hell speed you feel like is a good idea based on the circumstances … For example many small children running around near a school zone in the summer, even though the speed limit might technically be 50 km/hr, you can slow down to 30 or 40 if you think it’s a wise idea just like if you were on any other road and saw any other good reason to slow down. They just want to see that you know the rules And are using your brain to think and make common sense decisions that are smart and safe for all…. Or something like that! I’m out in the world right now but I’ll try to give you a better answer on that pedestrian question later tonight. Let me know how it goes too!!
Is this the situation you’re referring to? It’s good practice to never block intersections in case an emergency vehicle needs to get through, or in the case other traffic may be able to take the opportunity to proceed if there are a lot, or very slow pedestrians. Hope that answers your question. P.S. Bring on the rambling :)
Hi again and yes, that is exactly the situation that I was referring to. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post a picture! ( I would have done so but wasn’t sure how ). And maybe you shouldn’t temp me to bring on the rambling as I can resist pretty much anything but temptation! :) I actually found myself in just that exact ped. vs my car situation in town yesterday and that is exactly where I stopped. Good thing I did as they had to stop part way through the crosswalk to take a picture of one of Hopes many, many chainsaw wood carvings. Not only did they stop about 3/4 ( in my lane of course ) of the way across, but actually took a step or two back I guess because they wanted a better shot of the carving and were a bit too close. As traffic was building behind me, I finally had to resort to one of the global skills, communication, beep my horn, made eye contact, smiled and politely motioned that they were safe to continue on across the road. They smiled, waved and carried on. ( I honestly think an examiner would have been impressed.) They didn’t take my picture though. :( Tourists. Gotta love ’em. Thanks again!
Randy
Sounds like a fairytale. lol. The driving school where I worked told me not to teach people to motion for other people to go, because you could be held partly liable if they went and then were involved in some kind of collision with another road user that didn’t really see the situation in the same alignment as you if you know what I mean.. I’m not sure if that’s true and I haven’t read up on the law or read cases that have gone to court. But you can also tell other road users that you’d like them to go without motioning them… by using the language of your car (keeping it completely stopped in the correct position rather than sending a possibly mixed signal by slowly keeping the car moving, stuff like that,), and eye contact.
And yes that is interesting. I’m sure we’ve all seen pedestrians do all kinds of things: drop their keys, bend down to pick them up and then tie their shoe lace, stop and talk their friend right in the middle, then turn around and go back the other direction, or walk backwards, and or suddenly change their speed. Always good to be extra careful around them. Sounds like you are though…!
I just a bit ago wrote and posted ( thought I posted ) a sort of rambling but to the point reply, but upon checking back, I don’t see my post??? I’ll wait a bit to see if it shows up. My mouse is faulty so maybe I did a whole bunch of typing for nothing other than practice typing with it not posting. Grrrr?? I’ll keep an eye on this and if it posts, I will re ramble. :)
Oh I have to approve them before they show up on here, I had a problem with spam.
Got it. I did a little snooping around and found my comment/s were “pending”. Now I will not only brush up on my driving skills, but also on my posting skills.:) Thanks again for all your help and very useful information! Much appreciated.
you’re welcome man i’m glad it helped
I just wanted to say thank you Carmen for your blog and all the awesome info and tips. Did my road test today ( half an hour and 20 something Km. ) Whew. Anyway, passed with only one
‘bad” mark. A bit of a wide right turn. Seriously. I am going to try and post a pic. If this exam sheet didn’t have that B6 Wide mark on it I think I would frame it! All of your posts/comments/videos etc. helped me out immensely. Thank you again!
Hey!! I think you should frame it anyway; that is excellent!! (No need for perfection ?) Congratulations!! Enjoy, thanks for letting me know and I’m so glad the website helped. ??? Take care,
Do you guys know how many school are around point grey area? And what streets have 30 km/h?
I think that’s the whole thing is you are supposed to be able to OBSERVE them on your own ;)
That’s how I failed :( it was near Blenheim street I think! Is there just one school around there? Pls tell me?
I’m not sure off the top of my head. But remember what you are looking for are the road signs, not the actual schools.
I was so busy turning left and making sure a car doesn’t t bone me I drove past the first one not noticing
Maybe the second time I’ll pass sigh
Oh yeah just keep practicing!!
I’ve seen school zone signs without a speed limit, they only say “do not pass”. Does this mean you have to drive at 50Km/h and not pass or slow down to 30Km/h and not pass?
Hi!! If it doesn’t say 30, then it’s not a 30 km/hr zone. If it just says School area sign and no passing, then it’s probably 50 km/hr (or whatever the speed zone is that you were originally inside). It just means to be cautious and slow down IF you see a good reason to.
Is this the same with a bike route sign with no speed limit? Or if you see the green bike sign it’s always 30? See this photo.
Hey I can’t see the photo, please send again or email to bcdrivingblog @ gmail.com Thanks :)
Hi, I have been driving almost for 15 years, driving huge trailers and doing 3000km non – stop. I was going to switch from my international licence to BC licence and I just failed at my road test, so kind of funny. the problem was driving too slow (30km/h) after I entered school zone. There was no sign which said that the school zone ends (and I can get back to 50km/h) so I maintaned the speed of 30km/h till another sign which said 40km/h. I have been maintaing the 30km/h for about 5min. Examinator didnt tell me any proper description after. When and where exactly the speedzone of 30km ends? At the nearest intersection? I went through discussion below, but I am still not 100% sure what to do next time and how to do it very properly. Thanks
Here’s what it says in the ICBC book, To look for the back of the sign..
Hi. I got a towed and a parking ticket today. I parked next to a school yard. The sign said No Parking 8 am to 5 pm on school days. It is July 13th. I re-read the sign over and over again and decided that it is clearly summer break. There was no sign mentioning a special event or summer school or any other parking restriction. Does anyone have experience of this? Is it worth disputing?
I would dispute it. But make sure there really was/is no summer school in session there.