You get a speeding ticket mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle, but the B.C. government would prefer if you don’t call it photo radar.
B.C. now has 15 intersection cameras set up to produce speeding tickets as well as red-light violations, and another 20 cameras at high-crash locations are to be activated for speeding by the spring of 2020. The program started last summer, mostly in Metro Vancouver, but cameras activated for 24-hour speed enforcement are now up and running in Vernon, Kelowna, Kamloops, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Surrey, Pitt Meadows, Victoria, Duncan, Courtenay and Nanaimo.
An additional five locations are scheduled to go live for speed enforcement on Jan. 6, the public safety ministry confirmed to Black Press. They include one at 96 Ave. and 132 Street in Surrey, and four more locations in Vancouver. Signs are placed to notify drivers when the intersection is equipped with red light cameras, and when they are activated for speed enforcement as well.
There are 140 red-light cameras operating around B.C., 15 activated for speeding so far, 20 more by this spring. Watch for these signs #bcpoli #bcleg #notphotoradar pic.twitter.com/D0futShpMq
— Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc) December 27, 2019
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth won’t say how far over the speed limit the cameras are set to issue tickets, but he indicated last summer it is aimed at the most dangerous offenders. The ministry says there are no plans to go beyond 35 high-risk intersections “at this time.”
BC Public Safety Min @mikefarnworthbc won’t say what speed will trigger #photoradar tickets from intersection cameras #Bcleg #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/zyEjGXVtyW
— Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc) May 8, 2019
The ministry has released its first statistics on the speed cameras that were activated initially. It shows that from July to September, five cameras issued 2,370 tickets for speeding, with the highest speed recorded being 174 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. More data are to be posted in early 2020.
There are a total of 140 intersection cameras operating around B.C., most still set to operate for red light violations only. They issued 23,883 tickets in the same three-month period.
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The use of speed cameras is part of a broad effort by the NDP government and the Insurance Corp. of B.C. to rein in rising accident rates and claim costs that have pushed ICBC into huge deficits. Other measures include a cap on minor injury payouts, a dispute tribunal to keep smaller actions out of court and an overhaul of ICBC rates to shift the risk to individual drivers.
@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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