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Yep. point 4 is the key.

   

I would argue that the act of giving a ticket to punish a speeder is a social program to improve the life of Canadians.

Unless the system of speed tickets is just a cash grab.

If we turned the funds over to social programs and even charities cities/provinces would demand they get their ticket revenue returned to them or local charities be funded.

By removing the funding from the nation, we ensure that all tickets are motivated by public safety and not taxation.

We could turn it over to a general fund like the CPP or part of GST rebates. Just not something any government can try to control.

   

What about distributing it equally among children's hospitals?

   

I think exactly the opposite.

I think photo radar should be placed on any road where the speed limit is 80 km/h or higher and left there, 24/7/365 and police officers should be handing out tickets in school zones and residential areas.

This is mostly due to the fact that speed increases the severity of a crash and vastly increases the likelihood of fatalities and/or injuries. It also isn't very safe for a police officer to walking in traffic at high speeds to give some dumbass leadfoot a ticket. Photo radar does it just as effectively and is safer for all concerned.

On the other hand, I want a visible police presence in school zones and areas where kids are playing and where it is safe for officers to stop speeders and ticket them. Photo radar has been used extensively since they dropped the speed limits in Edmonton last fall and the number of tickets being issued has actually increased! Time to slap those idiots with demerits as well as fines IMHO.

   

#3 is a good idea, but for #4, any location where people are doing more than 10 km/h over the posted limit IS a risk to the public.

Speed kills - and when it doesn't, it causes serious injuries. I don't know about anywhere else, but a large percentage of serious brain injuries caused in Alberta (close to half) are caused by speed-related crashes.

   

Yeah I'll just jump onboard for that BS again. I really miss how on a 600 km stretch of2 lane road they'd put the unit on the longest straightaway. So they could nail you going 110 passing that log truck you'd followed for 50 kms.
Just like how they no longer cover the reduced speed limits when they go home for the night so they can fine you double going through a construction zone when no one's working.

   

Very true that the radar is set up for money, not safety.

   

I know that I have accrued more than $1,000 in photo radar tickets. That being said I would still be ok with keeping PR as long as the speeds were clearly posted. More often than 1nce every 10 blocks. Also, all lamp posts & public owned sign posts in school zones and playground zones should be painted from the ground up to a height of 5 ft in a very bright color. That way no driver could claim that they were not aware that they were still travelling in such a zone. ALL highway/city road signs,eg; Lloydminster, Ab border, Lloydminster, Sask border. The laws regarding passing stopped emergency vehicles are different in each province. That is duly noted with a postage-stamp size sign as you cross into Sask. It is also duly pointed out to an offender AFTER you have beeen pinched in a 'sting' set up just across the border, but before Eastbound drivers pass by the aforementioned sign.

   

I hate photo radar for the specific reason that it does nothing to change the behavior of the driver. I too prefer real officers, especially for the tailgaiting situation. I've changed my work hours because commuting with everyone else every morning simply became too dangerous with all the trucks driving at 110/km/h closer off my bumper than I'd comfortably park. And I'm not the only one, over the last 5 years I've noticed the traffic volume at 5am steadily increasing from where I was the only one as far as the eye could see, to almost having traffic congestion at certain intersections.

Unless I was willing to get a couple GoPro cameras and spend an hour after work each day reporting incidents to police, I felt my time was better spent leaving earlier in the mornings and afternoons to avoid these hooligans. I actually have a fair bit of damage to the bumper of my truck from a 'love tap' I got because I didn't move out of someone's way fast enough. I'm sure more photo radar could have prevented that.

I'd rather there were actual patrol cars out on the highways actually enforcing the laws that keep us safer, not sending a bill two or three weeks later to these people for endangering the lives and safety of public. Getting pulled over immediately, having their actions explained and moving a step towards losing the privilege of driving on our roads is how these people should be dealt with. Standing in front of a judge and having to explain themselves is also better.

   

Nah. The risk of accident is there even when the speed is below the speed limit, if unforeseen factors occur. But a wide open highway, good conditions, doing 20 or 30 kph over the limit is less dangerous than doing the limit bumper to bumper in rush hour, say. As Herbie pointed out, they often placed the cameras at the least likely places for an accident to occur. What they should be doing is using crash data, and focus on the sites with the most and most severe crashes. Anything else is more moralizing ( thou shalt not speed) than concern for safety.

   

Unfortunately, even the actual patrol cars, or rather their drivers, concentrate on speeding only. Don't bother to do sweeps for tailgaters, don't bust people who don't signal or make abrupt land changes etc. Harder to catch, harder to prove in court, doesn't bring in more money, so why bother.

   

To me it's just trolling for cash. I'm assuming that our local monthly traffic report is the same as any city and by far the leading location for accidents are intersections. If it was really about safety, the cameras would be at the problem intersections.

   

Because the focus has been on revenue, not on Safety. Patrol cars have cameras, so proving it isn't difficult. I saw, and experienced, tailgating and other activity that puts people at risk every singe day, so a 'sweep' every 15 minutes should turn up plenty to write up tickets for.

It's just a matter of having the will to do it.

   

This is published monthly here and this is the latest one.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... -1.2964592

Last night I was sitting at a red light waiting to cross 4 lanes of 90kph road when a Santa Fe passed me in the right lane and right through the red. Brake lights didn't even flash. Next set of lights I caught up to her and it was a young girl in her early 20's.....if that. Not sure she even knew how close she came to getting killed and I nearly shit my pants watching it. Plus I'd have been late for hockey.

   

I think that's the issue right there. Why the hell wouldn't the number of tickets go up if they dropped the limits?

I totally get what you are saying about the risk to police officers on the highway, and I think a better job needs to be done to mitigate those risks.

I believe you need police on the highway because, frankly, you need discretion. 140 on the Yellowhead, #1, #3, or QE II is certainly nothing crazy if you are outside of town, it's warm out, the roads are clear, and traffic is light/medium & going a similar speed. But if there is sheet ice on the road with a fresh dry dusting on top and no one has dropped the gravel, no one in their right mind should be going faster than 80. You need a cop to use is discretion to deal with the ones who are truly dangerous and reckless, a photo radar setup is simply going to ticket you for either going to fast or possibly even going to slow, despite the conditions making either of those speeds acceptable.

Conversely, I think playground and schoolyard limits need to be strictly enforced, double the limit, with demerits. photo radar is good at making strict enforcement. You are right, there should be a police presence, have one make a stop every so often. But there aren't enough cops to have one at each zone for even just an hour a day, never mind the 24/7 watch photo radar would provide.

   

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