Speedsters zipping through green, yellow and red intersection lights have so far received 421 violation tickets at 10 high-collision intersections in Red Deer.
Tickets cost registered vehicle owners anywhere between $78 to $474, but fines for driving more than 50 km over the speed limit are set by the court.
Drivers have been ticketed since Nov. 1. Prior to that warnings were issued instead to educate the public.
Paul Goranson, Red Deer’s protective services director, said more warnings were issued this past summer than tickets and that was expected.
“There is a lot of weather dependency. When roads are bad they just don’t drive as fast and are more cautious, typically. In the summer that’s when you see the higher numbers,” Goranson said.
The 421 tickets were issued during the first 41 days of the new program.
“I think we’re going to need a good year or two before we really see what the actual trends will look like. It’s too early in the program to really make any conclusions.”
The municipality receives 59 per cent of the fine revenue and the province gets 41 per cent. The money the city receives goes to support policing costs.
He said it is hoped the safety initiative will change drivers’ behaviour at intersections no matter what colour the traffic light. It’s not just a speed-on-green campaign.
“Some people think if you go through the intersection and you’re speeding when light is green, you get a ticket. But if it’s yellow you get a ticket. If it’s red you get a ticket as well.”
Speeding through a red light potentially means getting a red light ticket too, he said.
The following intersections are equipped with speed cameras. Cameras typically operate in four locations at a time and rotate around the city in one month intervals:
- 32nd Street – 30th Avenue eastbound
- 30th Avenue – 32nd Street southbound
- 50th Street – 30th Avenue eastbound
- 30th Avenue. – 50th Street northbound
- 49th Street – 49th Avenue northbound
- 76th Street – 50th Avenue northbound
- 59th Street – 50th Avenue southbound
- 32nd Street – Taylor Drive southbound
- 67th Street – 50th Avenue northbound
- 32nd Street – 50th Avenue southbound
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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