The Editor:
Re: 'We can all play a part': After 74 fatal crashes in 2024, officer pleads for people to travel with care (Jan. 3, 2025)
The time for politely asking people to drive more safely is long gone. “Pleading” with people is not doing anything. Dangerous driving results in so many serious injuries in deaths to drivers themselves and innocent bystanders. Much more urgent action is required.
Instead of the incredible sums in city police budgets going towards “driver awareness” campaigns, or time spent “pleading” for people to slow down, maybe it should go into actual enforcement. We see the mind-boggling (and scary) success police have when they set up speed traps. But is pointing a radar-gun at car after car really worth multiple officers standing on site for a full day?
Other countries and jurisdictions have ample automated enforcement – speed and red-light cameras – meaning drivers are actually enticed to follow rules of the road for fear of facing monetary fines. What a concept! Heck, even the Chief of Police in Calgary spoke at length about the benefits of automated enforcement.
What happens here, though? Then-Councillor Christine Boyle proposed automated speed and red light cameras at all intersections in the City of Vancouver that had hard data showing severe crash numbers, with special attention to dangerous intersections near schools. Council shredded the motion to its bones and sent it back for more consultation on an intersection-by-intersection basis. This is a waste of time. People are dying every few days on average, yet we’re taking years to ask “should we make our streets safer?”.
Well, this letter writer knows the obvious answer is yes. Yes we should, and we know how. We’re just too afraid to do it.
- Michael Hall, New Westminster
Volunteer, Vision Zero Vancouver
