A spectre is haunting Canadian roads: the real prospect of actually having to pay a fine for not respecting the speed limit. As speed cameras proliferate, particularly in Ontario, some drivers are showing their displeasure. Many of the cameras have been vandalized and one in Toronto cut down six times.
It’s time for a deep breath.
Speed cameras shouldn’t disappear, they should multiply. The cameras are effective and, because their penalty is so easily avoided, they are fair.
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In fact, a recent poll for CAA showed majority support among Ontarians for the cameras. Politicians who pander to the minority of drivers who hate them are gambling with public safety.
Those politicians span the ideological spectrum, from Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford to former Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, now mayor of suburban Vaughan, and left-leaning Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
So busy trying to placate drivers, these politicians ignore that speed cameras work. The hit in the wallet is sufficiently unpleasant that it convinces people to slow down. For evidence, consider that the number of tickets issued by any given camera typically goes down over time.
That effect has been further demonstrated by research from a hospital and university in Toronto. According to their findings, referenced in a recent city staff report, the proportion of vehicles speeding went down 45 per cent after cameras were installed near schools and in high-collision areas.
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A person hit by a vehicle travelling at 30 kilometres an hour has a 90-per-cent chance of surviving. Increase the speed to 40 kilometres an hour, though, and the survival rate drops to 60 per cent. A person hit at 50 kilometres an hour has only a 20-per-cent chance of living.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-sorry-speed-cameras-arent-the-problem/
A few years ago in Washington DC, a section of a highway had a speed camera installed and they reduced the speed limit from 55mph to 35mph. The area was also marked as a construction zone. The only indication of these changes was a single speed limit sign with a small construction zone sign right above it, and the camera was immediately after it, so if you weren't already at 35mph by the time you passed the camera, you get a ticket. There was no construction for several miles either; no cones, no workers, nothing.
I was returning home fom a service call at 3 am when this camera dinged me. I was going 55mph, and the ticket was $270. Since I was driving a company vehicle, my company didn't give me the chance to fight it, not that I could've ... the "judge" for these fines was an employee of the company that owned the camera, and they reportedly always sided with the company. This camera was noted to be the most profitable camera in the United States at the time. Hopefully Canada doesn't outsource their traffic cameras.