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“It doesn’t slow traffic down,” he insisted despite evidence from police and doctors to the contrary.

Indeed, his comments came one day after the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police said the cameras have “been proven to reduce speeding, change driver behaviour, and make our roads safer for everyone — drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and especially children and other vulnerable road users.”

“These tools are especially deployed in school zones and community safety zones, where slowing down saves lives and prevents serious injuries,” the chiefs’ association said Thursday.

But Ford, whose three-term Progressive Conservative government amended provincial laws years ago to revive municipal photo radar that had been prohibited for decades, insisted there are better ways to get motorists to slow down.

“I’m going to teach them how to do it next week,” the premier said, mentioning the possibility of “flashing lights,” speed bumps and new signage to force drivers to obey posted speed limits.

“If they really want to slow people down, I will show them how to slow people down. They know how to do it. They just don’t want to do it,” he said of municipalities.

Ford, who has praised Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca for scrapping the cameras, said other municipal leaders have privately confided they use photo radar as a revenue stream.

“Folks, I’ve talked to mayors offline. They’ve even admitted — two of them yesterday — ‘yeah ... it’s a tax grab. But we need money for the roads,’” he said as he munched on an “absolutely delicious”  for the benefit of the media.

However, researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children and º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMetropolitan University have found the cameras reduced the number of speeding cars and trucks by 45 per cent in city school zones.