Data from theCity of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children reveals that more than 227,000 speeding tickets have been issued a year after automated cameras were rolled out across the city.
According to a statement issued by the City of Toronto on Tuesday, both entities are tracking the data to determine the effectiveness of the municipal automated speed enforcement camera program. The devices are installed in community safety Zones and areas where speeding and collisions are frequent. Tickets issued through ASE devices are fines only; drivers will not accumulate demerit points.
Between July 6, 2020 (when enforcement began), and July 5, 2021, officials said 227,322 tickets were issued to vehicles driving over the speed limit in 50 locations.
They also said one of the vehicles captured received 27 tickets over the course of the year.
However, officials said fewer drivers are travelling over the speed limit after the devices were installed.
“The proportion of cars speeding has dropped, compliance increased, and the number of egregious speeders has become smaller,” Andrew Howard, the interim head of SickKids, said in the statement.
The number of speeding tickets issued to vehicles speeding on streets with a 40 km/h limit dropped to 28 per cent in 2020 from 49 per cent in 2019. Cameras were installed in 2019, but a grace period and warning letters were issued up until the first week of July 2020.
In the statement, Toronto Mayor John Tory praised the program.
“It’s clear that when these cameras go up, drivers slow down,” Tory said.
“We are doing everything we can to improve road safety and keep our streets safe for everyone.”
Meanwhile, officials said a new round of speed camera zones will be operation as of November.
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