ROTHENBURGER: New intersection speed cameras don’t go far enough

It might be the death of this latest endeavor, too. The 35 cameras will be upgraded to catch speeders rather than just record whether a red light has been blown. In other words, the light could be red, yellow or green. Speeders who blast through “well over” the limit will find a ticket in the mail. “The menace of speed cameras has returned,” declares BC Driving Lawyers, a group of trial lawyers who specialize in driving law. It is, they say, a “cash cow” for government, and they’re already advising anyone who gets a ticket to get a lawyer and fight it.

The new cameras are a reincarnation of photo radar, says Sense B.C., a group that wants higher speed limits.

Raising the spectre of photo radar and describing the new cameras as photo radar in sheep’s clothing is likely to be effective, since so many people loathed the old system.

Even the red-light cameras — the ones that measure only if we’ve run a light — received the “photo radar 2.0” label when they were introduced and then upgraded to 24-hour monitoring. MLA Todd Stone used the term as he grilled the government in the Legislature.

The NDP government is already on the defensive over the new cameras. Their purpose, assures public safety minister Mike Farnworth, is safety, not revenue. Speeding-ticket revenue that goes to municipal governments won’t change, he says.

The government started thinking about intersection speed cameras last year but postponed them to gather more speeding data. The ICBC “dumpster fire” no doubt prompted the revisit.

There’s truth to the accusation that the new intersection speed cameras are a form of photo radar, but it’s photo radar light. We need to stop being so afraid of it.

I can think of a few intersections in Kamloops that should have been included in the new program, first and foremost being Fortune and Eighth. The red-light camera there recorded 41 crashes between 2009 and 2013.

The worst intersection in the province, accident-wise, is in Burnaby. That one had 168 crashes during the same period.

Another Kamloops location that would get my vote is Columbia and McGill. But, no, good old Kamloops doesn’t qualify. Even Kelowna is going to get a couple of the new cameras.

The real problem with the new scheme isn’t that it goes too far, it’s that it doesn’t go far enough. If ICBC and the government truly wanted to make a dent in crash stats, they’d bring back full-blown photo radar.

It’s human nature that we react better to punishment than to incentives. Trying to educate drivers to the dangers of speeding, and to appeal to their sense of civic duty and social responsibility, has limits.

Paint bright crosswalks and install flashing lights and signage, and pedestrians still get hit. Start handing out speeding tickets, and things settle down for as long as the traffic cops are on the scene. As soon as they leave, the problem returns.

Photo radar is a helping hand in deterrence. There has to be some stealth to it, of course. If it was in the same place all the time, drivers would soon learn that and obey speed limits as they passed the cameras, then resume their normal habits.

In an attempt to gain more acceptance of the new speed cameras, the authorities have announced the locations. Warning signs will be installed. As a result, 35 intersections will very likely see a positive change in the way drivers conduct themselves. At the rest, things will go on as usual.

One thing the new cameras will do, though, is provide statistical evidence on whether the radar is working. While there’s already evidence that it’s effective, opponents dispute it.

The experience of other jurisdictions should be of help, too. Toronto is installing 700 photo radar cameras, many of them around schools. Calgary also has them. So does Winnipeg. In 2017, Edmonton reported photo radar revenue had dropped by $3 million because drivers were going slower, causing a decline in the number of tickets.

If people think they’ll get caught, they change their behavior. It’s that simple.

Part of the issue with photo radar is the technology. Mistakes are made with who gets the ticket but that’s a technology problem. And despite what the Driving Lawyers say, fighting speeding tickets is a pain in the butt.

The logic of it, though, is indisputable. If we speed, we don’t have a logical complaint when we get fined for doing it.

Photo radar is a cyclical phenomenon. One government brings it in, the next promises to get rid of it. Maybe the new intersection cameras will prove themselves to the point that the door is opened for the return of real photo radar.

At least for awhile.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: New intersection speed cameras don’t go far enough

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