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Of course, just because I admire the bold messaging doesn’t mean I think the NDP would ever fully axe photo radar. But there’s no denying their attack puts Kenney’s UCP in a tough spot. His base is packed with folks who would love to see it axed, yet the Kenney government has now backed away from any previous hint about eliminating photo radar. Instead, the government has come up with new rules for managing enforcement.
This has allowed the NDP to cast the UCP as the big government villain in support of the cash cow-milking photo radar companies and municipalities, which drain more than $200 million per year from Alberta motorists in fines.
As NDP MLA Lorne Dach said in the legislature on Wednesday, “The photo radar cash cow lives as this UCP government continues to pick the pockets of drivers.”
Dach pointed to an independent third-party 2018 report, commissioned by the NDP while in government, that found while Alberta is the leader in terms of using photo radar, the enforcement program has led to a small reduction in accidents, 1.4 per cent over an eight-year period compared to jurisdictions that don’t have photo radar.
On Twitter, Notley weighed in with an all caps blast: “UCP CONTINUE TO HAMMER HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS WITH PHOTO RADAR. Jason Kenney’s UCP government will continue to hit Alberta drivers with costly photo radar tickets, despite a lack of evidence that they contribute to traffic safety.”
Through the COVID pandemic, the NDP has been the righteous party of safety first, last and always. Its stand on photo radar is decidedly off that brand, which did not go unnoticed by progressive politicians and pundits. As former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson said, “I know nobody likes to get a ticket for driving too fast, but let’s not aim to beat populism with populism please.”
But I don’t think the NDP will lose many votes over this rhetoric. Their base so dislikes Kenney that they’re not going to be moved on a traffic enforcement issue.
Where things get sticky is whether the NDP would, in fact, limit photo radar any more than the UCP is doing.
The NDP plan isn’t to axe photo radar completely. In an interview, Dach told me that while most Albertans don’t like photo radar at all, they’re concerned about high-risk areas, such as school grounds, intersections and construction sites. Municipalities could have photo radar at these sites, but would have to justify it with data that these sites are high collision areas, Dach said.
But this sounds much like what the UCP is doing now.
UCP Transportation Minister Rajan Sawhney has said that the new UCP plan will eliminate “fishing holes and speed traps,” with the onus on municipalities to provide data and justification for the use of photo radar in high collision areas. “While photo radar will still generate revenue, Albertans can be confident that the new guidelines will ensure it is used to improve traffic safety,” Sawhney said. “My No. 1 priority is safety on the roads.”
That’s a good line. But I’m left with a strong sense that whatever party leads the next government will do much the same thing, put on a public display of attempting to limit the greediest tendencies of government and photo radar companies. But this will have limited impact. The pull of perceived public safety and profit-making is too strong to resist.
My solution? There was no major issue with photo radar for the first 20 years of its operation, mainly because the police promised to use it to hammer only the most aggressive speeders. They had an unwritten rule to never charge a driver unless they went more than 15 km/h over the speed limit. This worked well to limit the speed demons while letting everyone else drive with the safe flow of traffic and not get ticketed.
Go back to the unwritten rule and the issue goes away
Source: EdmontonJournal
