Heavy-foot motorist drove 76 km/h in school zone in May, data shows
The highest speed recorded in a Moose Jaw school zone this year occurred in May when a motorist zipped through a 40 kilometre-per-hour zone at 76 kilometres per hour. Furthermore, the highest speed recorded on Highway 1 — near the intersection of Highway 1 and Ninth Avenue Northwest, which is an 80 kilometre-per-hour zone — was 153 km/h in both January and June.
The data is part of an information report from Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), with the report looking at the results from the Crown corporation’s photo speed enforcement program from January to July of this year. There are speed enforcement cameras on the Ring Road in Regina, on Circle Drive in Saskatoon, and on Highway 1 in Moose Jaw, while there are similar cameras in selected school zones in those communities.
In Moose Jaw, the speed enforcement cameras are located near William Grayson School and Palliser Heights Elementary School. SGI indicates a violation occurs when a vehicle is speeding above the threshold amount as determined by law enforcement. However, a violation may or may not result in the issuance of a ticket. During those seven months, there were 17,961 traffic violations on Highway 1 in the speed enforcement camera zone, the data shows. However, police issued 7,703 tickets to some of those heavy-footed motorists.
There were 1,905 traffic violations in the two school zones in Moose Jaw from January to July, with police handing out 878 tickets to motorists who failed to obey the 40-km/h speed limit.
All of these traffic tickets have translated into a pretty penny for the coffers of the City of Moose Jaw. City administration indicated in a second-quarter report recently that revenue from fines and penalties is up compared to the same point last year. Furthermore, this revenue item is on track to come in close to budget.
The total budget for this area this year is pegged at $1.675 million. During the first six months of this year — from January to June — city hall received $815,698 in revenue from fines and penalties.
However, due to the provincial government changing the funding formula with speed enforcement cameras, the City of Moose Jaw is likely to keep about $250,000 of that money.
The photo speed enforcement program began as a pilot project in December 2014, after it was recommended by the all-party Special Committee on Traffic Safety. The program became permanent in September 2018.