Traffic safety enforcement done the right way
When traffic safety enforcement is done right, it’s a beautiful thing.
Take the case of Sherwood Park and Strathcona County, where five years ago, the local council axed photo radar, beefed up actual police enforcement and targeted problem drivers and hazardous intersections.
The new plan led to enforcement measures so effective and fair, they deserve a standing ovation from every driver in the region, where too much traffic enforcement is pointless at best and a cash grab at worst.
In one particularly brilliant case, the police set up digital speed signs by a Sherwood Park neighbourhood road with the hope of slowing down drivers. The police then studied the data collected and found that at one particular time of day, a single car was consistently going far over the speed limit, says Coun. Brian Botterill. “That allowed us to target the enforcement on the individual who was the problem.”
The police went to the spot at the right time of day and nabbed the speeding menace, giving him not only a photo radar ticket, but also major demerits.
“You didn’t have to hit a bunch of the neighbours with tickets for doing 10 km/h over; you hit the one guy doing 30 to 35 over in a 50 zone,” says Botterill.
Botterill led the charge to axe photo radar in Sherwood Park in 2012, mainly because enforcement was creeping into areas where there weren’t many collisions and the operators were handing out tickets for lower speeding offences. All this led to a huge increase in photo radar revenues, but growing public disapproval. Sound familiar?
After photo radar was axed, Sherwood Park kept red light cameras at intersections and hired five more police traffic officers. They focused on dangerous intersections and pulling over distracted and/or careless drivers.
The end result of the transition? A new study from the University of Victoria’s School of Public Administration shows there was an insignificant change in the per capita rate of car collisions after photo radar was axed: “On the basis of the data analyzed in the study, automated enforcement cameras have been shown to have insignificant effect on the number of monthly collisions.”
The study was done by graduate student Jason Gariepy, a former Strathcona County councillor, who voted to remove photo radar in 2011. Botterill sponsored the study. While photo radar revenues shot down, Botterill says the police handed out far more $2,500 tickets to drivers caught with no insurance.
What would he say to people or politicians who love the millions in fines collected by photo radar and worry about giving up that money? Botterill notes the police still give out a high amount of tickets and fines, then says: “If you have a revenue issue, we have a fair and equitable way to collect revenue, which is taxation. If revenue is factoring into the conversation at all, we’re no longer doing it for safety.”
Will similar reforms come to Edmonton? Many voters and new council candidates are not keen on the photo radar-heavy status quo.
Northeast candidate Tricia Velthuizen calls for an immediate halt to the photo radar program. After studying several years of city traffic data, Velthuizen found that in the 25 photo radar locations most used by the city, a majority had no relation to the top locations where collisions most frequently occur. Other candidates say the same. “I don’t like it,” says southwest candidate Sandy Pon. “I think it’s a bit of entrapment.”
“No one is a fan,” says northeast candidate Aaron Paquette. “Neither am I. Can I be blunt? It’s a cash grab.”
“People hate it to kingdom come,” says northeast candidate Beatrice Ghettuba.
Southwest candidate Tim Cartmell wonders if limits are too low in places: “Purposely low speed limits might be a further indication that the current photo radar strategy is more about revenue generation than it is about safety.”
Numerous candidates talk about the need for far less photo radar, targeting only high collision areas, bringing in more police enforcement and using far more digital speed signs. In other words, they’re advocating the Sherwood Park model. It’s time to get that done.