Photo-radar activists vow to organize second protest
A photo-radar protest in Edmonton got so much support over the weekend that organizers are doing it again.
Jack Shultz, a local anti-photoradar activist, said more than 30 people volunteered to stand next to photo radar vehicles along Edmonton roads Saturday and Sunday in protest.
They believe photo radar is a cash cow for the city and does little to slow drivers.
Volunteers held up brightly coloured signs warning passing drivers about the presence of photo radar.
“The amount of supporters who showed up was unreal,” Shultz said.
“If you want to speed and get caught, man up and pay the consequences. But when it comes to hiding behind trees and ticketing people by mail, I don’t feel that’s necessary,” Shultz said.
At the heart of the issue, said Shultz, is that photo radar operators appear to hide behind bushes, under overpasses or behind signs, which Shultz said distracts drivers.
“I would see so many people get rear-ended, people going under the limit looking side to side for these radar trucks, I just find it to be more of a distraction and a hazard than the people that are actually speeding five to 10 over,” said Shultz, who said his crusade to change traffic enforcement started while watching the flow of traffic along 170 Street while on his lunch breaks.
At the same time, Shultz said, current automated traffic enforcement measures do nothing to curb the danger of reckless drivers, who don’t know they’ve been caught until they get a ticket in the mail weeks later.
“That doesn’t stop the crime that’s happening.”
Because of this, Shultz has called the city’s photo radar program a “cash grab,” more about generating revenue than improving public safety.
Shultz would like to see enforcement replaced with officers armed with radar guns, who are able to intervene at the moment when they recognize dangerous driving behaviour.
At the least, Shultz said photo radar could be made more visible to serve as an active deterrent for drivers.
He said his efforts have earned him a few “crap tickets,” including one in excess of $500 for pedestrian stunting. Officers accused Shultz’s photo radar warning signs of distracting drivers.
As such, he said volunteers at what he calls the Cash Cow Extravaganza 2 protest event Sept. 10-11 will be protected by a volunteer legal team.
Sgt. Eric Theuser, with the Edmonton police major collision investigation section, said they have noted people posing beside photo radar enforcement locations with signs. “Enforcement action can be taken if there is active obstruction or interference in traffic.”
However, he said the “EPS has recently been informed by the provincial traffic Crown prosecutor’s office that they will not be pursuing charges simply relating to the display of signs warning of photo radar.”
While photo-radar-enforcement vehicles may not be marked, the city does post automated photo enforcement locations online.