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City of Ottawa cameras caught nearly twice as many drivers running red lights in 2014 — and could nab more yet if councillors approve a plan to put still more intersections under surveillance.
About 17,200 tickets were mailed out last year — almost double the average from 2011 to 2013 — after the city decided to operate all 34 of its cameras simultaneously instead in rotation.
Now, Mayor Jim Watson is pushing for the installation of five new cameras a year over the next four years, for a total of 20 additional light-running deterrents.
Watson, who first proposed the expansion during his 2014 municipal election campaign, said the cameras are necessary to combat red light-running.
“Back many years, the philosophy was, when you saw a yellow light you started to slow down,” he said in an interview. “Now, it seems that when people see a yellow light, it’s almost a sign to speed up. And far too many people are going through red lights and putting public safety at risk.”
City of Ottawa cameras caught nearly twice as many drivers running red lights in 2014. This is a map of current locations of the cameras in the city.
CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERACTIVE MAP OF CURRENT LOCATIONS.
Red light cameras have operated in Ottawa since 2000, when two were installed at Carling Avenue at Richmond Road and Carling at Bronson Avenue in a pilot project. In the past decade, Watson said, all automobile collisions have dropped by 12 per cent, with right-angle collisions dropping by 29 per cent.
In the last full year, according to the mayor’s office, tickets resulting from red light cameras generated $2.1 million in revenue for the city.
Watson said this has led “a lot of people” to label the blitz a cash grab. He disagrees.
“If we had the ability to remove demerit points, as opposed to money, that would probably be even more effective,”said Watson. “But we can’t. The cameras can’t detect who is driving the car; they can only detect the car licence plate.”
Registered vehicle owners receive a $325 fine under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
According to the city website, all locations with red light cameras are marked with signs. Asked about the possibility of additional signage, though, Watson did not seem to see it as a viable solution.
“I’m not sure what the point of that is,” he said. “Should we put a warning sign up at every single traffic light, intersection, saying, ‘There may be a red light camera here.’ ”
The plan is to go to Ottawa’s transportation committee on June 30 and to the full council on July 8. No decision has been made on where new cameras would be installed, Watson said.
Red light cameras are permitted in Ontario, but another camera-based enforcement tool is not. Photo radar was introduced in 1994 by former NDP premier Bob Rae, and quickly abolished 11 months later by his successor, Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris.
Harris famously called photo radar “just simply a cash grab.”
psmith@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/plsmithca
查看原文...
About 17,200 tickets were mailed out last year — almost double the average from 2011 to 2013 — after the city decided to operate all 34 of its cameras simultaneously instead in rotation.
Now, Mayor Jim Watson is pushing for the installation of five new cameras a year over the next four years, for a total of 20 additional light-running deterrents.
Watson, who first proposed the expansion during his 2014 municipal election campaign, said the cameras are necessary to combat red light-running.
“Back many years, the philosophy was, when you saw a yellow light you started to slow down,” he said in an interview. “Now, it seems that when people see a yellow light, it’s almost a sign to speed up. And far too many people are going through red lights and putting public safety at risk.”
City of Ottawa cameras caught nearly twice as many drivers running red lights in 2014. This is a map of current locations of the cameras in the city.
CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERACTIVE MAP OF CURRENT LOCATIONS.
Red light cameras have operated in Ottawa since 2000, when two were installed at Carling Avenue at Richmond Road and Carling at Bronson Avenue in a pilot project. In the past decade, Watson said, all automobile collisions have dropped by 12 per cent, with right-angle collisions dropping by 29 per cent.
In the last full year, according to the mayor’s office, tickets resulting from red light cameras generated $2.1 million in revenue for the city.
Watson said this has led “a lot of people” to label the blitz a cash grab. He disagrees.
“If we had the ability to remove demerit points, as opposed to money, that would probably be even more effective,”said Watson. “But we can’t. The cameras can’t detect who is driving the car; they can only detect the car licence plate.”
Registered vehicle owners receive a $325 fine under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
According to the city website, all locations with red light cameras are marked with signs. Asked about the possibility of additional signage, though, Watson did not seem to see it as a viable solution.
“I’m not sure what the point of that is,” he said. “Should we put a warning sign up at every single traffic light, intersection, saying, ‘There may be a red light camera here.’ ”
The plan is to go to Ottawa’s transportation committee on June 30 and to the full council on July 8. No decision has been made on where new cameras would be installed, Watson said.
Red light cameras are permitted in Ontario, but another camera-based enforcement tool is not. Photo radar was introduced in 1994 by former NDP premier Bob Rae, and quickly abolished 11 months later by his successor, Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris.
Harris famously called photo radar “just simply a cash grab.”
psmith@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/plsmithca
查看原文...
