Municipalities kick tires on photo radar

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This article was published 27/11/2024 (318 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba municipalities want to get into the photo radar business.

A City of Brandon resolution to allow municipal governments to implement red light cameras and photo radar was given the green light Wednesday after a vote at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities fall convention in Winnipeg.

The association will now pursue the subject of amending the Highway Traffic Act with the province.

Brandon’s deputy mayor, Bruce Luebke, spearheaded the cause to allow all municipalities access to the technology and said Wednesday was a good first step in that direction.

Since 2002, photo enforcement has been regulated by the Highway Traffic Act, but only Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service can use it.

“I found it odd that one city or municipality was allowed to do something while the rest couldn’t,” Luebke said, noting he first petitioned the province in 2022 and was told by the former Tory government that they’d take it under advisement.

He never heard back from the Progressive Conservatives but saw a chance to start fresh when the NDP formed government last year.

Rather than requesting on behalf of Brandon this time, Luebke saw fit to have all 137 Manitoba municipalities backing the cause.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said the NDP government is engaged in a “positive, collaborative” dialogue with municipalities about the best methods to keep citizens safe on highways and roads.

“We look forward to working together on this resolution as we determine the best route forward to make our roads safer,” Naylor said.

The association will next request an official response from the government. Luebke said the move is a long time coming.

“We first started having informal discussions amongst council about Vision Zero (a strategy first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s and designed to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy and equitable mobility), and we were noticing issues with traffic and vehicle safety in our community,” Luebke said.

Vision Zero has several basic components communities can do to help with traffic safety, with one of them being enforcement, including image technology.

“I commend (Luebke) for coming up with the resolution and for wanting to put that discussion forward, because I think all ideas are good,” Brandon mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Brandon Sun last week.

“I don’t have any preconceived notions about it. It was council that put this resolution forward. If it does pass, then it does give the opportunity to have further discussion. I’m all in favour of doing that.”

Luebke feels it’s unfair that only Winnipeg has access and cited data from Manitoba Public Insurance’s latest traffic collision report from 2022 as to why Brandon could benefit from the technology.

Brandon saw five fatal collisions in 2022 after averaging fewer than one between 2017 and 2021.

Luebke said it’s too early to talk about locations for potential enforcement, but if the time comes, they will use police and MPI data to guide that decision.

Most recent MPI figures on collisions in Brandon show seven of the top-10 locations at intersections along 18th Street, which saw hundreds of crashes between 2018 and 2022.

Whether or not other municipalities adopt the technology if allowed remains to be seen.

Selkirk mayor Larry Johannson said Wednesday it’s not on his city’s radar at the moment.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca