Let’s be honest. There are few drivers out there who haven’t, at least once since they’ve been licensed, broken the speed limit. We’ve all lost track of our speed traveling down a wide open road or we’ve sped up late for work or an appointment or just in a rush.

Or maybe we’re one of those drivers whose speed always seems to be at least five to 10 km/hr above the posted limit. Whatever the reason, regardless of how many other people are doing it, speeding is generally inexcusable.

So what better than some good oldfashioned guilt to deter drivers from zipping along faster than they should.

At least, it seems to be a successful tactic in Oshawa where Durham Regional Police have launched a new initiative to induce a little extra shame and embarrassment into getting pulled over.

Last week, drivers caught speeding along the school zone on Rossland Road, between Stevenson and Thornton, were given the option to take a ticket or listen to a speech prepared and given by Grade 11 law students from Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School.

With speeding a seemingly unending problem, it’s commendable that cops are coming up with alternative ways to get through to these unsafe drivers.

A ticket doesn’t necessarily change a driver’s habits. It’s easy to forget once it’s been issued and paid, but there’s hope that hearing from someone who could have been crossing the street at the same time you came barreling down it, well that’s a little more powerful.

And while it shouldn’t replace ticketing, which does hammer the message home to many of us, creative problem solving such as this is always a refreshing way to reach people.

It’s also an excellent way to educate those teens who are about to hit the road for the first time. When you’re pouring over accident statistics and relaying them to adults caught speeding, it would be hard to ignore the information yourself.

In essence, the initiative kills two birds with one stone—targeting speeders already on the road and newly licensed or about-to-be licensed drivers. And the message should be especially loud and clear in that area of Oshawa where, in 2001, a young girl lost her life in a traffic accident at the corner of Rossland Road and Waverly.

If nothing else, this initiative should serve as a memorial to those names behind the troubling statistics.