By Spencer Sterritt

Fed up with speeders, Nanaimo woman takes enforcement into her own hands

Nov 23, 2018 | 3:22 PM

NANAIMO — Armed with a blow dryer and phone, a Nanaimo woman is forcing drivers to slow down on her normally sleepy street.

April Patricia Green stood outside her Caledonia Ave. home on Friday and pointed her blow dryer at cars ripping down the street. The dead-end street isn’t popular but the Christmas Craft Fair being held at the German Cultural Centre at the end of the road made it a hotspot for speeders.

“Everyone is just really jumping to get down there and forgetting it’s a residential area,” Green told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Fed up with cars whizzing by at 50 or 60 kilometres per hour, she took her neighbour up on a joke, strapped on a safety vest and stood at the hood of a truck parked on the side of the road. If you didn’t look too closely, she looked enough like a traffic enforcement officer to scare speeders.

“The moment they see me step out with my phone and blow dryer, they slow right down. As soon as they pass me, usually the wives in the passenger seat realize it’s a blow dryer and start laughing.”

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There’s a steep, nearly blind hill just before the German Cultural Centre, making the high speed a real danger for anyone crossing the road to get to nearby trails.

Green said the worst speeders are the ones coming from the Centre and quickly gunning it up the hill.

A social media post about her quest to put the brakes on drivers was a big hit among her friends and many are chiming in about their own speeding issues.

“I have friends as far as Calgary who say ‘Oh my goodness, I’m going to get out my blow dryer and safety vest and do this in my neighbourhood,’ especially my friends with little ones.”

Nanaimo RCMP Traffic Services told NanaimoNewsNOW everyone should be driving on Caledonia Ave. at 20 kilometres an hour since it’s unlined and really more of a laneway.

Cpl. Terry Crawford couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard what lengths Green had gone to.

Being a dead-end street, Caledonia Ave. isn’t exactly on their radar. Crawford said police have focused on residential school zones since September.

He said most people follow the speed limits across town.

“With people rushing home from work and getting kids out to their activities and getting Christmas shopping done, we want to remind people to do it safely and obey the speed limits. They’re there for everybody’s safety.”

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit