With hordes of young people headed back to school next week, police and traffic safety groups will be using a variety of methods -- old and new -- to remind drivers to slow down in school zones.

The District of West Vancouver will be installing a 3-D optical illusion on 22nd Street that looks like a young girl running into the street. Northbound drivers near Ecole Pauline Johnson will first see a sign that reads You're Probably Not Expecting Kids to Run Out on the Road, followed by a 3-D image of a child chasing a ball into the street. The image of the girl is visible from about 30 metres away, giving motorists enough space to stop if they are obeying the speed limit. The girl appears to recede into the pavement as drivers pass by. The illusion, the first of its kind in Canada, will be in place for one week. The $15,000-trial is a partnership between the district and safety advocacy groups Preventable and the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation.

North Vancouver RCMP officers will also be taking speeders to school.

"We're going to be educating them through their pocketbooks," said Sgt. Darrin Ramey, head of the detachment's traffic section.

"It is a very important time of year. It's when our most vulnerable people, our children, are headed back on the streets in droves and for many of them, it may be the first time that they are out walking in traffic. We're going to be a very visible presence for the first couple of weeks of school to remind the driving public that school season is on and the speed limit is 30 kilometres per hour unless otherwise indicated."

Every police officer is involved with traffic enforcement, said Ramey, but the North Vancouver detachment will be devoting six of its members to enforcing the speed limit around schools. In addition to brightly clad uniformed officers on motorcycles, unmarked vehicles and civilian volunteers will also be patrolling for speeders.

"Driving is one of the most dangerous things you can do on a regular basis. You have to take it seriously and we are the people mandated to make you take it seriously," Ramey said. "It's not something you can ease into. One day there are very few kids around, the next day there are going to be thousands. It's not like you can slow down tomorrow. You're going to slow down today."

Ramey said studies have shown that warnings are ineffective at deterring speeders, so don't expect any leniency if you're pulled over in a school zone. "Everyone wants more enforcement but nobody wants a ticket," he said. "When I take this uniform off I'm just a normal guy. Wouldn't it be nice if I was a good guy and just gave him a warning? Well you know what? That doesn't work."

Drivers snared by Ramey or his colleagues will face a minimum $196 ticket, with fines escalating steeply from there. A motorist caught doing 52 kilometres per hour in a school zone will be slapped with a $253 ticket.

"There's a nice reminder that school is on," Ramey said. "Hitting a child really ruins your day."

The BCAA traffic safety foundation says September and October see the greatest numbers of child pedestrian injuries and fatalities, with students aged five to 14 being the most at risk. The foundation's research suggests that talking or texting on a cellphone while crossing the street increases a pedestrian's chance of being struck by a vehicle.

balldritt@nsnews.com