It was the first week Edmonton motorists had to deal with school zones and their 30 kilometre per hour speed limits near elementary schools, and City officials said hundreds of violations were recorded in those zones.

Starting Tuesday, September 2, the City of Edmonton put school zones with 30 kilometre per hour speed limits in effect.

A total of 21 different schools were monitored from September 2 to 4, with the number of violations at each site ranging from zero, to 116.

Officials said while many drivers obeyed the slower speed limit, there were still a number of motorists who didn’t.

“Although the drivers in some of the areas we monitored clearly took the new speed limits and the reasons behind them to heart, we were disappointed to see a higher number of violations overall than we were expecting,” Gerry Shimko, with the Office of Traffic Safety, said in a press release.

“Hopefully, these motorists will pay much closer attention to the signs in the future and come to understand that the changes were made in the interest of protecting students most at risk for injury or death.”

School zones near McKernan (11330 76 Avenue) and Duggan (at 106 Street and 37 Avenue) schools had the highest number of violations recorded, with 87 and 116 violations respectively.

In one case, a speed camera caught a driver doing 73 kilometres per hour near York School, officials said another vehicle was seen passing a driver who was obeying the reduced speed limit.

Officials have said were giving drivers a grace period of a month or so before handing out speeding tickets, but Shimko said that could change if more drivers didn’t change their habits.

“If we don’t feel that motorists are taking the school zones seriously though, and if they are continuing to jeopardize the lives of students by ignoring the speed reductions, we may have to reconsider and begin issuing fines sooner,” Shimko said.

The school zones are in effect around Edmonton elementary schools between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on school days.

Here's a full breakdown of violations recorded near Edmonton schools (Source: City of Edmonton):

School

Address

Number of violations

 York School

 139 Ave/60 St

26

 Lorelei School

 103 St/162 Ave

3

 Katherine Therrien School

 150 Ave/118 St

5

 Steinhauer School

 10717 - 32A Ave

17

 Grandview Heights School

 6225 - 127 Street 

8

 McKernan School

 11330 76 Ave

87

 Julia Kiniski

 41 Ave/42 St

4

 Weinlos

 48 St/29 Ave

20

 Sakaw

 11A Ave/57 St

14

 Pollard Meadows

 48 St/18 Ave

18

 Edmonton Christian School

 McQueen Rd/145 St

14

 Lymburn

 72 Ave/187 St

2

 Meadowlark

 92 Ave/159 St

10

 St. Martha

 180 St/73 Ave

9

 Belvedere

 134 Ave/61 St

21

 Fraser

 21 St/148 Ave

4

 Anne Fitzgerald

 Clareview Rd/132A Ave

3

 St. Bonaventure

 30 St/139 Ave

2

 Belgravia

 74 Ave/117 St

0

 Duggan

 106 St/37 Ave

116

 Rideau Park

 42 Ave/106 St

18