City eyes new examination of photo radar program

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This article was published 14/12/2023 (1015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A call for “thorough review” of photo radar traffic enforcement has emerged at Winnipeg city hall, with some council members hoping for resulting updates to the decades-old legislation that governs the program.

A new motion suggests council ask the Manitoba government to review how effective photo radar is, where such equipment is best placed and assess the aging Winnipeg technology that supports it — then change laws to reflect the findings.

The motion comes after the Winnipeg Police Service repeatedly noted current provincial legislation limits the program to 2002 technology, which it deems outdated and at risk of failure.

Coun. Markus Chambers, who raised the motion, said he’s convinced photo radar enforcement deters unsafe driving behaviours.

“If we can rotate some of these cameras… if we can add it to new communities that don’t have it, I think it will help within the overall grand scheme of reducing those traffic collisions and speeding tickets,” said Chambers, chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board.

Some city neighbourhoods that didn’t exist when the program started in 2002 could benefit by such monitoring, he added.

Chambers’s motion argues road safety has become a more pressing priority following a surge in collision fatalities, which he said rose to 28 in 2022, from six in 2021.

The former provincial Progressive Conservative government promised to complete a review of the photo radar program in 2019. That task was not finished prior to the NDP securing a majority government in October.

A provincial spokesperson confirmed Thursday the review was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a Winnipeg Police Board meeting Dec. 8, WPS Chief Danny Smyth said the dated photo radar technology has prevented program expansion.

“There are a lot of roadways that exist today that would be well-serviced to (have) automated enforcement that we don’t have the ability to do right now,” he said.

Last year, Smyth told reporters the technology is so outdated it’s at risk of failure and “slowly, but surely, deteriorating.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham said he supports the call to review photo radar and efforts to address “antiquated” technology.

“Photo radar is about keeping streets safe or making streets safer… We need to understand that that aim is being achieved and that it, in fact, is effective at making streets safer,” said Gillingham.

“If it does improve safety on streets, there’s evidence of that, then the (legislation) should change to allow for photo radar technology to be updated and (for) it to be deployed in the right locations.”

The mayor said he also believes the program is effective, noting his own past ticket in an unoccupied construction zone led him to better driving habits.

“I do think that photo radar can make streets safer but, ultimately, rather than my view and opinion, we need the data and the study to show it.”

The motion will be considered by the public works committee in January. It would also require full council approval.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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