A letter was published in the Advocate written by Evan Greely about concerns photo radar was being used as a cash cow which the city promised would not happen.
Well with our experience I would say Mr. Greely’s concerns have come to be exactly that a “cash cow.”
Last August a ticket was issued in a school zone which was received in October. To our surprise we drove to the area stipulated on the ticket to find out the school was completely hidden by a church, the school zone sign was hidden behind a bike lane sign, put out by the well trained city workers, and the school was at the other end of the block from the street in question. We were not aware it was a school zone as one’s eyes are on the traffic and the intricacies of the intersection preceding the church. This ticket was issued on a Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. How many children do you suspect would be playing on a school yard in August late Sunday getting close to supper time?
When the school zone signs are hidden from the driver’s view the desire to protect children must be secondary to collecting fine money.
Some cities are doing away with photo radar, will Red Deer do the same?
Kathy Kashuba, Red Deer