‘Please slow down’
Police issue dozens of speeding tickets on Veterans Memorial Highway, city roads
Plenty of drivers still aren’t slowing down on highways in the Northeast Avalon region of the province, police say.
Both the RCMP and RNC issued dozens of speeding tickets within a handful of hours on Thursday.
On the Veterans Memorial Highway, RCMP traffic enforcement officers issued 28 speeding tickets to drivers travelling the highway, Route 75, near Bay Roberts, within a four-hour period.
“Sadly, we have seen a number of serious and fatal car crashes on this stretch of highway recently,” Const. David Bourden of the Holyrood RCMP Traffic Services said.
“This initiative shows that speeding is a problem. We are asking everyone to please slow down.”
In addition to the 28 speeding tickets, the RCMP handed out eight tickets for other traffic violations, including improper cellphone use and following too closely.
A number of fatal crashes have happened in the last several years on the Veterans Memorial Highway, where thousands of vehicles travel daily.
The latest happened on Sept. 11, when three people were killed in a head-on collision.
According to an RCMP news release Friday, the most common contributing factors in serious and fatal collisions are failing to wear a seatbelt, speeding, impaired driving and distracted driving.
The RCMP is asking that all motorists take the simple precautions of buckling up, slowing down and never driving while impaired or while using a cellphone.
Meanwhile, the RNC patrol services division also conducted traffic enforcement initiatives Friday.
Using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment, officers stopped 27 drivers for exceeding the posted speed limit on the Outer Ring Road and Pitts Memorial Drive.
A total of 30 tickets were issued to motorists under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) for speeding and other HTA offences.
Officers noted that many motorists are not slowing down and moving over when passing police traffic stops.
A minor collision occurred between two motorists as traffic was passing a traffic stop, police said.
“The RNC recognizes that many motorists are still not adhering to the rules of the road despite countless warnings from police, enforcement and many tragedies on our province’s roads in recent months,” an RNC news release stated Friday.
The RNC said it will step up patrols and enforcement in its jurisdictions to target aggressive, dangerous and distracted drivers.
“We are thanking the public for their continued support and remind everyone to adhere to the Move Over Law to keep our officers safe as they help make the roads safer.”