Thursday, June 30, 2011

Calgary's Photo Radar Cash Cow

  I had the opportunity to appear on the CBC Calgary Eyeopener yesterday as a guest on the "Unconventional Panel" to chat about Photo Radar and the infamous Red Light/Speed on Green Camera's in our city.  This was somewhat of a hot topic in Calgary due to the Calgary Herald's story that the Calgary Police Service had issued close to $40,000,000 in traffic tickets last year!

 In my opinion, the Calgary Police Service is sending a mixed message about the use of these camera's.  They claim that they are all about promoting "safety" on our roads, but I think that the main reason for using this technology is to raise operating capital.  If the real interest is in safety, I would prefer to see the fine revenue put into a special fund dedicated to education and enhancing road safety.

  I also believe that photo radar tickets do not have the same deterrent effect as receiving a ticket in person from a police officer.  Receiving a fine in the mail does little to correct your behaviour, other than to just piss you off.   Having your time impacted on the side of the road, followed by stern lecture from a police officer ( and a real ticket that can affect your insurance rates) probably will go further in correcting your driving behavior!

I am sure everyone has an opinion on this issue, but I still think that these camera's are simply a cash cow for the CPS.

  Here is the link to the CBC Radio panel from yesterday!

http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/columnists/unconventional/2011/06/29/speed-on-green/

Drive Safe!

Shane



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1 comment:

  1. Shane, you are correct. Photo-radar is not a public safety instrument. It is a means of exacting a stealth tax upon taxpayers, a method of shaking down drivers and putting the thumb-screws on them to extract money to provide for the healthy bank accounts of police. Photo-radar adds nothing to public safety. It is just another aspect of Canada, the police state that penalizes good citizens while enabling criminals to walk away without penalty.

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