Station 1 launches road-safety campaign
The statistics are encouraging. There were no serious injuries and no fatalities on municipal roads in Montreal police Station 1 territory over the last 11 months.
Station 1 Commander Martin Bernier wants to keep the statistics just where they are, so the station is launching a three-part roadsafety initiative which will unfold over the next four months.
(The statistics do not include highway accidents. Highways are patrolled by the Sûreté du Québec.)
“We are responsible for our behaviour,” Bernier said, Monday. “Everybody who uses the road has to do their part.”
First up is a reinforcement of pedestrian safety. Police will be stationed at intersections in March to watch for pedestrians jaywalking or crossing on red lights.
Station 1 polices a 40-square-kilometre sector which covers Baie-d’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Kirkland, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville and includes McGill University’s Macdonald Campus and John Abbott College — both in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. The latter town’s main artery, Ste-Anne St., is a popular destination for students looking to unwind. Maintaining order requires a sustained effort from Station 1 patrol officers.
Monitoring the roads requires an equally-sustained effort, especially along the north/south artery St-Charles Blvd. which accesses Highway 40 to the north and Highway 20 to the south. During peak periods, the boulevard teems with drivers rushing to work or picking up or dropping off children at school.
“We put up (electronic) speed panels on St-Charles Blvd. and drivers don’t even see them,” said Const. Simon Allard, the officer in charge of road-safety procedure for the territory.
“The panels are there and drivers are still going 80 km in a 50-km zone,” he said.
Bernier, who took over the command at Station 1 four months ago, said the latest batch of statistics shows traffic-calming efforts are paying off. There were more than 700 road-related police actions in Station 1 municipalities over the last 11 months.
Bernier said the statistics coming out of Station 1 will help reach the goal set by Montreal’s 2008 Plan de Transport to reduce road-related injuries and deaths by 40 per cent by the end of 2017.
Part 2 happens in May and involves an increase in police presence at challenging intersections like the one at St-Charles Blvd. and Highway 20.
Officers will be watching for drivers who ignore traffic signs and who speed.
“Drivers run red lights at that intersection all the time,” Allard said. “If a pedestrian happens to be crossing on the green light and focusing on catching the bus across the street and a driver burns the light, something bad will happen.”
Allard said the most complaints they receive from citizens, bar none, is about drivers running stop signs, especially on residential side streets.
He reads every traffic complaint the station receives.
“I know that if I go to a problem intersection, it won’t be long before I am issuing a ticket,” he said.
The uneasy relationship between cyclists and drivers is another area in need of monitoring and bikepath safety is also a concern. Police will be on the lookout for bad behaviour on the bike paths and roads in June. Two police cadets and two officers will be on bike patrol.
“The Highway Safety Code is applicable to everybody, including cyclists,” Allard said.
To submit a road-safety complaint, call 514-280-0101 or email pdq1@spvm.qc.ca.