Despite a decrease in automated enforcement hours of service last year, the number of speeders caught on Grande Prairie roads in 2020 was higher than in 2019.
According to the City of Grande Prairie Enforcement Services, 30,150 photo radar tickets were handed out in 2020, up from the 29,268 in 2019. This, despite temporary layoffs of three operators and a 50 per cent reduction in hours for remaining Automated Traffic Enforcement employees throughout the summer.
Operational Support Supervisor Shawn Hibbert says while the statistic certain caught his eye, he believes there could be a couple of factors in play when it comes to explaining the increase in infractions.
“You could take into consideration that the road has fewer vehicles, or if people got wise that there were no ATE operations, they knew there would be no repercussions exceeding the speed limits,” he says.
Hibbert says one piece of good news from the report presented to members of the city’s Protective and Social Services Committee is the continued decrease in the number of collisions across Grande Prairie. In 2020, there were 451 reported collisions causing more than $2,000 in damages, down from 1,026 from the second quarter in 2019. Hibbert says the enforcement is deployed at a number of intersections across the city based on several criteria.
“Proximity to the intersections that are dangerous based on collision rates, as well as public feedback if we get a lot of complaints about speeding in particular areas,” he says.
“It’s dependant on where we are seeing the infractions, and where we can deploy our resources to best impact those numbers, to bring them down, and to try and improve traffic safety on our roads,” he adds.
Hibbert says when you take into account the population of the Peace Country, and the overall use of the road network in the city, he believes there is still work to be done when it comes to speeding, but it isn’t what he would consider out of the ordinary.
“It’s not that the city has a prolific issue with speeding if you think of the population that Grande Prairie has, coupled with the surrounding communities we serve… 45,000 violations in a year isn’t that excessive,” he adds.
You can find the full report here.
