A Calgary woman is heading to court over two speeding tickets she received in the span of 10 seconds from two different photo radar cameras located only 250 metres apart in west Edmonton.
Susan McNab told CTV News that she was travelling north on 170 Street at 100 Avenue four months ago when a photo radar camera recorded her driving 74 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. Only ten seconds later, a second camera logged her speed at 72 km/h in the same 60 km/h area on the same street.
McNab received two separate tickets in the mail with a combined total fine of $229.
“I just thought, ‘Oh, they made a mistake,’” she said on Wednesday. “And then I looked at the times and they were taken 10 seconds apart and I thought, ‘That can’t be right.’”
But the two speeding fines were right, according to an employee of Edmonton’s photo radar authority who told McNab over the phone that the cameras have been in place since 2009 and that she would have to appear in court if she wanted to fight the tickets.
“This is a blatant cash cow,” McNab said. “What is reasonable here? Is this really effective in stopping speeding? Come on.”
The Calgary woman admits that she was speeding and said she will pay for a ticket, but just not two of them.
“There has got to be reasonable limits set,” McNab said. “Can you put down cameras every ten feet?”
Despite McNab’s frustration, Edmonton’s Office of Traffic Safety claims the photo radar cameras have been successful in decreasing speeds and subsequent accidents.
“We’ve seen a reduction of 60 per cent in injuries over the last 10 years,” Gerry Shimko, the office’s executive director, said.
The cameras are all placed in high-risk areas and there are plenty of signs warning drivers to slow down, according to Shimko. He maintains that only a handful of motorists are ever ticketed twice on the same road in Edmonton each year.
In response to public concern that the speed cameras are being used to make money instead of road safety, the Alberta government announced in the spring that they would conduct a review of the province’s photo radar practices.
Minister of Transportation Brian Mason provided CTV News with a statement on the review’s progress.
“Photo radar shouldn't be used as a revenue generating tool,” the statement read. “Its only appropriate use is to improve the safety of Alberta's roads.”
McNab plans to travel to Edmonton for her court appearance in December where she hopes the matter will be resolved.
“[I] will try and find a judge who is impartial and can hopefully see that 10 seconds is not a reasonable amount of time,” she said. “You’re being penalized twice for the same incident.”
With files from CTV Calgary and CTV Edmonton
