As much as I like to see dangerous and reckless drivers getting tickets, the accuracy of the photo radar money grab has major drawbacks. It is not a deterrent to would-be speeders. Nothing can replace the human presence of a law enforcement officer.
My reason for writing in is this — on the morning of Sept. 23, I decided to ride my motorcycle to work on the rather frigid morning. My commute takes me past the fire station on Sir Winston just next to the Grandin mall. Almost every resident of Grandin knows where the photo Dodge SUV parks. Sure enough I see it as I come down just past the Riel turnoff, I look down at my speedometer and I’m doing 53 km/h. I back off, doing 49 km/h just to be safe. The moment I passed the location, a driver in the left lane blows past me, obviously not a local resident or just a rush commuter and flash, the camera goes off!
Now, I happen to be in the right lane. I would like to know for sure how that camera distinguishes who triggered the system because clearly my licence plate had to have been taken. I happened to be talking about the topic at work that morning and was told by some co-workers, that both vehicles going past the location will be ticketed. That includes myself, who happened to be doing 49 km/h in the 50 zone. I’m hoping this isn’t the case otherwise that is unacceptable.
If this happens to be the norm for whichever department that runs this program, it is flawed and is a big money grab, not to mention illegal. With no presence of an officer to issue the ticket to the particular speeding individual, again it does not deter reckless speeders. I would like to use a scenario: if a person had taken a hostage and a sharpshooter had said person in their sights, it is not all right to shoot the hostage in order to get the hostage taker. That would cause an outcry and is very unprofessional. Why is the city allowing this to happen in regards to the photo cameras? If indeed that is what goes on, we should be allowed to fight our case and see the evidence that this camera platform can distinguish which vehicle actually triggered the sensor and not just issue tickets to pad the pockets. I’m going to wait and see if that ticket comes in the mail. If it does, I will truly know the system is flawed!
William Sebirumbi, St. Albert
