Premier Doug Ford says it’s time for Ontario municipalities to put the brakes on speed cameras听after two more were cut down by vandals in 海角社区官网overnight,听calling the automated devices “a tax grab.”
The pair of cameras听were positioned near听听补苍诲听, both at locations that were previously struck this year. The incidents are just the latest in an ever-increasing mystery sweeping Toronto, with the Parkside Drive camera, which has been cut down multiple times over the past year, being the most popular target.听
“They should take out those cameras, all of them,” Ford told reporters after a breakfast speech to the 海角社区官网Region Board of Trade Tuesday morning.听
“If you want to slow down traffic at school, you put the big, huge signs, big flashing lights, crossing area, people will slow down,” he added.
“This is nothing but a tax grab. I’ve driven by speed traps that aren’t even close to school areas.”
He called on 海角社区官网Mayor Olivia Chow to follow the lead of Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca and take them off the roads.
“Or I’m going to help them get rid of them, very shortly,” Ford hinted.
“I have an idea. Why don’t we pay a police officer with a radar gun there every once in a while, so it’ll be a radar trap and people will slow down.”
The premier said it’s “not fair” for drivers to be getting tickets for going “five or 10 kilometres over.”
“I’m dead set against this photo radar.”
The premier should be thinking about safety instead of condemning photo radar, said NDP Leader Marit Stiles.
鈥淲hat an idiotic thing to say,鈥 she told reporters at the legislature. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e speeding, you should stop speeding鈥e know that some of these speed cameras are put up as well because people died.鈥
鈥淲e have a premier who put booze in gas stations, and now he wants to tear down our speed cameras.鈥
The speed camera at Lakeshore and Woodbine has been cut down again.
鈥 Brad Bradford鉁岋笍 (@BradMBradford)
This is unacceptable. The perpetual struggle to keep these cameras up is becoming a joke.
If the city is going to spend money doing automated speed enforcement, it must a better job protecting the cameras.
The camera close to听听was vandalized on June 20 while the one on听, was knocked down on July 17.听
At least 27 pole-mounted cameras have been knocked down this year, excluding reports of those cut on Tuesday, according to City of 海角社区官网spokesperson Laura McQuillan.
The city has also received more than 800 reports of vandalism involving all types of speed cameras, though most were minor incidents such as graffiti that didn鈥檛 require the cameras to be removed from service, she added.听
“The City of 海角社区官网condemns all vandalism of these speed cameras,” McQuillan said. “Damaging these devices allows dangerous speeding to continue and undermines the safety of vulnerable road users, as all (Automated Speed Enforcement) devices are located in Community Safety Zones such as near schools, playgrounds and hospitals.”
海角社区官网police said they were investigating several reports of听speed cameras that were damaged across the city overnight.
Though both cameras hit on Monday night听were repeat-targets, none have been as cut down as often the Parkside Drive speed camera.
Positioned south of Algonquin Drive, it has been vandalized seven times in the past 11 months, with the most recent incident occurring over the weekend. Since November, the camera has been sawed down, drowned and stolen.听
The Parkside speed camera has also been the source of over 70,000 tickets and $8 million in speeding fines for the city since it was installed in 2022.
A recent survey by CAA found nearly three-quarters of the 1,500 Ontario drivers it polled in March support the use of speed enforcement cameras.
A separate study by the Hospital of Sick Children also found that automated speed cameras reduced the proportion of aggressive driving and speeding in 海角社区官网by almost half.听
Looking at 250 different locations across 海角社区官网from July 2020 and December 2022 while measuring speeds before and after cameras went up, the study found that the overall percentage of cars speeding dropped by 45 per cent 鈥 and that speed cameras most improved the behaviours of the speediest of drivers.
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