Thirty-five intersection cameras tweaked to slow worst leadfoots

Mike Farnworth

IGNORING new, prominent warning signs and flying through one of British Columbia’s highest-risk intersections soon will lead to an automated speeding ticket – a road safety approach proven to cut speeds and tragic outcomes elsewhere.

Government has completed its analysis of speed and crash data for the 140 Intersection Safety Camera (ISC) program sites currently equipped with red-light cameras. It has identified 35 with the greatest potential for further safety gains through automated speed enforcement.

Beginning this summer, B.C. will install new warning signs and activate technology to ticket the registered owners of vehicles entering these intersections well over the posted limit on a red, yellow or green light.

“We have a record number of crashes happening – more than 900 a day in our province – and about 60% of the crashes on our roads are at intersections,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “We’ve taken time to systematically pinpoint the locations linked to crashes and dangerous speeds that are best suited to safely catching, ticketing and changing the behaviours of those who cause carnage on B.C. roads.”

Between 2012 and 2016, ISC sites in B.C. reported an average of 10,500 vehicles a year going at least 30 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit, as detected by red-light cameras, which also monitor vehicle speeds. Speed has been one of the top contributing factors in casualty crashes at these intersections, which have had a combined total of more than 11,500 collisions per year.

“The previous government only saw fit to activate each safety camera for up to six hours a day and to target only red-light runners,” said Farnworth. “We moved quickly to fully activate the red-light cameras, and now we’re adding speed enforcement – because it works, and because we want people who travel through these busy intersections to get where they’re going safely.”

Farnworth noted that to discourage high speeds at these 35 locations, neither government nor police will disclose the speed threshold that will trigger the new cameras. This is consistent with every other Canadian jurisdiction using automated speed enforcement. Depending on continued monitoring of the ISC program and evaluation of road safety outcomes, that threshold may change in the future.

“Speed remains a major contributing factor in most serious and fatal collisions,” said Chief Constable Neil Dubord, Chair, B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee. “We welcome the government’s initiative of using automated enforcement tools at intersections to provide an effective, safe and impartial way of saving lives and reducing serious injuries on our roadways.”

 

Automated speed enforcement camera locations in B.C.

 

In summer 2019, B.C. will begin activating equipment to ticket the fastest speeding vehicles at the following 35 locations. These intersections are among the 140 locations currently equipped to ticket those who enter the intersection on a red light.

ICBC’s interactive map shows all intersection safety camera locations throughout B.C.:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1PbBRhjyK44zXxeeFqtYB9V1psBs&usp=sharing (https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1PbBRhjyK44zXxeeFqtYB9V1psBs&usp=sharing)

Abbotsford:

* Route 11 at Lonzo Road

Burnaby:

* Kingsway at Boundary Road

* Kingsway at Royal Oak Avenue

* Willingdon at Deer Lake

Coquitlam:

* Barnet Highway at Mariner Way

Delta:

* Nordel Way at 84th Avenue

Kelowna:

* Harvey Avenue at Cooper Road

* Highway 97 North at Banks Road

Langley:

* 200th Street at 64th Avenue

* Route 10 at Fraser Highway

Maple Ridge:

* Lougheed Highway at 207th Avenue

Nanaimo:

* Island Highway at Aulds Road

North Vancouver:

* Marine Drive at Capilano Road

Pitt Meadows:

* Lougheed Highway at Old Dewdney Trunk Road

Port Coquitlam:

* Lougheed Highway at Shaughnessy Street

Richmond:

* Garden City Road at Cambie Road

Surrey:

* 128th Street at 88th Avenue

* 152nd Street at 96th Avenue

* 152nd Street at King George Boulevard

* 64th Avenue at 152nd Street

* 96th Avenue at 132nd Street

* King George Boulevard at 104th Avenue

* King George Boulevard at 80th Avenue

Vancouver:

* Boundary Road at East 49th Avenue

* East Hastings Street at Main Street

* East Hastings Street at Renfrew Street

* Grandview Highway at Rupert Street

* Granville Street at West King Edward Avenue

* Kingsway at Joyce Street

* Kingsway at Victoria Drive

* Knight Street at East 33rd Avenue

* Oak Street at West 57th Avenue

* Oak Street at West 70th Avenue

* Southeast Marine Drive at Kerr Street

* West Georgia Street at Cardero Street