HRM could implement speed cameras this year: councillor

Nova Scotia says photo radar could be in place by the end of the year.

This is a corrected article. A previous version incorrectly stated Nova Scotia is implementing speed cameras this year. CTV News Atlantic regrets the error. — Speed cameras could be coming to some Halifax-area neighbourhoods by the end of the year, according to one city councillor.

The topic came up during a public meeting in Dartmouth, N.S., on Thursday, where residents spoke out over excessive speeding on Waverley Road.

“In the past month, I’ve had three near-misses where I’ve almost been hit on the sidewalk walking my dog and carrying my four-and-a-half-month-old son,” says one resident.

Dartmouth East Coun. Tony Mancini says it was just one of many concerns and complaints people living in the area have made about speeding.

“I live off the road, I see it myself … and we’ve collected data on the street, and it’s confirmed there is an excess amount of speeding taking place,” he says.

Mancini says the Halifax Regional Municipality is “ready to go” when it comes to implementing speed cameras, but the technology continues to face debate over its effectiveness.

Ontario turned them off in November after more than five years of use and millions of dollars collected in fines.

“I don’t support speed cameras. I don’t find that there’s any evidence they actually change driver behaviour. This is particularly because the tickets aren’t delivered to people until sometimes months after the incident occurred. And in order for an intervention to change behaviour, it’s more effective when it happens immediately when somebody is pulled over,” says Kyla Lee, a Vancouver-based criminal lawyer.

“Clear, consistent, visible enforcement by police officers on the ground has been the thing that has consistently, time and time again, shown to decrease speeding and other bad driving behaviour. If people have a perception they will get caught and that there are consequences associated with being caught, they’re less likely to engage in that type of driving behaviour.”

Mancini says enforcement would be the ideal solution, but the municipality doesn’t have the traffic department it once did.

Despite pushing to increase police budgets, Mancini says he, alongside colleagues who advocated for it, “lost that battle.”

“But in recent years, we’ve gotten that support. But we’re so far behind in the number of officers that we need. We’re in catch-up mode,” he says.

Mancini says, if implemented in HRM, “it’ll be a love-hate relationship with these speed radar cameras.”

But he believes it’s the next best option to deter persistent speeding.

“There are those that think it’s a big money grab. And it’s not a money grab. Much of the money from a speeding ticket doesn’t even stay with the municipality, it goes to the province,” he says.

“We’ve always been looking for the technology to be the solution … we were told by the province, who was in attendance that night at our community meeting, that it’s probably eight-to-12 months before they have all the background technology and information ready for us so we can issue the tickets. So, probably eight-to-12 months before you can actually see them on the road.”

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