As the provincial government continues to activate intersection speed cameras, the number of tickets issued continues to climb.
According to new numbers posted on Monday, drivers received 7,353 speeding tickets from intersection cameras between October and December. There were 15 cameras active in November and December, up from 10 in October.
With just five cameras operating, there were 2,370 tickets handed out from July to September.
“It’s too early to tell if there has been any improvement in our driving behaviour yet. We will see more of the statistics as they come through over the course of the next year,” Delta Police chief Neil Dubord said.
The province started with five speed cameras in July and then added five more in October. As of the end of the year there were 15 activated, and all 35 will be activated by the end of March.
In intersections with the cameras a vehicle can receive a ticket for speeding through a green, yellow or red light.
The province also has in place 140 red light cameras. There has been a drop in the number of tickets issued for violations issued in those intersections.
From July to September there were 23,883 red light tickets issued province wide. But from October to December the number dropped to 20,907.
“It’s surprising. That might indicate that people are paying more attention to the colour of the lights and how they get through the lights,” Dubord said.
“But it’s pretty early days to be able to tell that.”
The province will be activating additional intersection cameras additional on Feb. 24.
The new locations will be:
- Barnet at Mariner Way, Coquitlam
- Lougheed Hwy at Shaughnessy St, Port Coquitlam
- Nordel Way at 84 Ave, Delta
- 200 St at 64 Ave, Langley
- 64 Ave at 152 St, Surrey
- 128 St at 88 Ave, Surrey
- King George Blvd at 104 Ave, Surrey
- 152 St at 96 Ave, Surrey
The B.C. government says it is confident it can win any legal challenge against the intersection cameras.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the province’s lawyers are certain the intersection cameras will not face the same issues as the controversial photo radar program did.
But Accumen Law lawyer Kyla Lee says she has seen examples of drivers being given reduced fines after a challenge over how fast the driver was going.
The cameras take three images to determine whether a vehicle is going through a red light. On top of that, drivers could be given tickets for excessive speeding at any point in the intersection.
The province will not be telling the public how fast a driver has to go to trigger one of new green light speeding cameras.
However, leaked audio of ICBC’s CEO obtained by Global News last year suggests the line could be 30 km/h over the speed limit.
Lee says it is hard to prove whether the cameras actually change driver behaviour, considering the tickets arrive in the mail long after the offence occurred.
“It’s not correcting the behaviour at the time that it is occurring,” Lee said.
“It’s no different that telling your dog, ‘don’t tear up my couch,’ four days after the dog tore up your couch.”