Commentary:
Approving photo radar the right move for all the right
reasons
By Fred Sherwin
O rléans Online
In
yet another example of the age old adage, why make
a decision today when you can put it off until tomorrow,
city council has decided to refer a motion asking for
the provinces permission to use photo radar for
further study, consultation and debate.
Apparently
quite a few councillors are worried that asking for permission
to use photo radar may upset their constituents who are
more worried that it might be used as a cash grab than
the safety of residents living on streets plagued by speeders.
If
you are concerned about public safety and protecting the
quality of life of taxpayers who have the same right as
anybody else to live in a safe environment, photo radar
is a no-brainer. At the same time, if you want to allay
fears that they could be utilized to pad the citys
coffers you can adopt guidelines as to when the photo
radar would kick in, such as 10 km/h over the posted speed
limit, and post signs warning motorists the street is
being monitored.
And
just because you have a photo radar housing on a street
doesnt mean it has to be equipped with a photo radar.
If used properly, photo radar should act as a deterrent.
As such, you only need to have the perception a street
is being monitored to get drivers to slow down.
You
could easily erect multiple photo radar housings on multiple
streets and rotate the actual photo radar device between
them. This would prevent them from being used as a cash
grab while maximizing their potential as a deterrent.
Over
the last few years it has become abundantly obvious the
city does not have the resources to properly enforce speed
limits. I live just off Princess Louise Drive which has
a posted speed limit of 40 km/h, and I can assure you
that the unofficial speed limit is closer
to 60 km/h, yet I have never scene a speed trap, or even
a car pulled over for speeding in 10 years. The same is
true for 90 per cent of the streets in Ottawa.
Even
when the police do have the resources to enforce the speed
limit, it is only temporary and the speeders return as
soon they leave.
The
only way to deter speeding on residential streets and
protect the safety and quality of the people living on
those streets is to implement the threat of a consequence
which photo radar provides and the sooner the better.
(Updated
9:30 a.m., March 23)
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