“I hate to do this, but it’s for your own good.”
That phrase has been around for a long time, probably since the beginning of mankind. I know my dad said it enough times.
Where am I going with this? Well, the growing use of photo radar cameras well applies here.
“Cars are driving faster all the time,” Tracy Chapman says in her song, Fast Car. Nothing could be truer.
We are killing ourselves on the roads at a rate not seen in 15 years. Speeding, made worse by distracted driving, was a major factor, according to the latest statistics.
In Ontario, there were 613 road fatalities in 2023, including 409 drivers, 89 passengers, and 96 pedestrians. This translates to 3.9 fatalities per 100,000 people in Ontario, according to provincial statistics.
Municipalities have decided to employ so-called automated speed enforcement to slow drivers down and make some money at the same time.
And guess what? Many motorists are enraged because they are getting notices in the mail, complete with photos of their vehicles and a fine attached. They complain it’s just a money grab.
How dare they be penalized for speeding through school zones or constantly exceeding the speed limit by 15 kilometres an hour or more?
By the way, I got a speeding ticket, caught red handed by a photo radar camera in Wellington. Did I like it? No, the air was blue. But I paid it because I was at fault.
You may have read about the blow-back in Toronto and Vaughan as well as other municipalities.
The Parkside Drive speed camera in Toronto was cut down five times in a six-month period. That camera was installed after two seniors were killed in a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection if Parkside Drive and Spring Road on Oct. 12, 2021.
A Burlington man, who was subsequently sentenced to 6.5 years in prison as result of the deadly crash, was travelling at over 100 km/h on the street with a 50 km/h limit. Residents complain speeding remains a serious issue.
In Vaughan, Mayor Steve Del Duca paused issuing fines to speeding drivers after the city’s recently launched automated speed enforcement program appears to have exceeded expectations, the Toronto Star reported.
Why did the mayor get cold feet? Over a period of three weeks, more than 32,000 tickets were issued to drivers who went over the speed limit — in most cases 40 km/h — at 10 locations around the city where the automated speed cameras were located.
In Vaughan, deterrence lost out to whining.
The fact is these automated speed enforcement cameras do work.
On a stretch of road in Paris, Ont., before the camera was installed in front of an elementary school, more than half of the 20,196 passing vehicles were recorded speeding, but after the camera went live on Feb. 3 only 39 per cent were speeding and from there dropped down to 33 per cent, the Hamilton Spectator reported.
That camera was stolen, but has since been replaced. And there are more coming to Brant County, according to the Spec.
At the end of the day, it’s all quite simple.
Motorists need to slow down, whether it’s on a city street or a major highway. If they abide by the posted speed, getting a ticket at the roadside or in the mail won’t be an issue.
And, as has often been said, speed kills.
By those associated with the fine collection it's known as the Stupid Tax!!