Hey he IF you asked me — which you didn’t — I'd say it’s about time those photo radar con- traptions were put to good use. At intersec- tions. Where the action is. Depending on which flag is up for rotation, there are several singular causes the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, iCBC and law enforcement would like us to believe are a tremen- dous hazard to road safety. The “speed kills” tlag enjoyed its time as the flavor of the month and, depend - ing on whose skewed stats vou believed, that banner campaign helped reduce traf: fic collisions by oh, some- where between one and 99%. Due out soon is the very worthy Counter Attack cru- sade and its slew of stats which maintain alcohol is a contributing factor in every other car crash. I distrust speed stats. Ifyou back out of your ice-covered driveway and skid into a parked car, you become a “spced-relatéd” stat because you were back- ing out too fast for the road conditions. You were speed - ing. Likewise, if vou're zip- ping along the highway 50 klicks over the limit and ram into a deer crossing the road, you are a speed-related stat even though the deer’s bad timing caused your crash. As far as alcohol related crashes go, if you're a teeto- taller but vour passengers are drunk and you erash, you become a related stat in spite of your sobriety. , Shaun | Conlin signals If you're taking a case of empties back to the liquor store and some fool sehimucks fites vou, you and the tool become alcohol stats by the mere presence of beer bottles. And rarely do we hear that drunk drivers are usually 10 times over the limit when they kill themselves, because that would make our .08 law seem paltry (which it isn’t). Ifyou get drunk, race through a school zone while vakking on your Fido and smash into a telephone pole, you become a speed stat and an alcohol stat even though the real cause of your crash was the fact that you are a stupid idiot. Ir’s not the campaigns thar irk me, it’s the darn numbers that accompany them. Like we the public need proof. Really, people crash? That many, huh? In the end, and no matter how you crunch the num- bers, speeders and drunks make up a small percentage of the people crashing out there — the former being an easy catch, the Jatrer being a worthy one. There are boncheads our there who chink it their inherent right to speed, drink, and gab on the phone. It is not, And now, finally, acam- north shore UTO paign that pumps into the thick of tt. A super-efficient interseetion blitz with aid of the most recent new fnrgled thingy called the red-fight- camera. Though the North Shore municipalities have yet to be approached, Sut. Bob Beaudoin of the North Van RCMP ‘Traffic Section is very excited about the idea ef red-light photo radar camera installations in our commu- nity —- and not for the “cash cow reasons. you consider that 83% of crashes on the North Shore happen at intersec- tions,” states Sgt. Beaudoin, “Fd sav we're putting 3 price ona real problem.” Get that srat, folks? 83%, That's not a “what” star. That's a solid, tangible “where” stat. Drunk, sober, fast, slow or blabbing to a broker ona cell phone, we arecrashing in intersections. Soon, “Calitornia-cruising stops (slowing down without actu- al stopping)” and “*Cup- optional-reds (stopping for a red light only if vou see a Friday, November 21, REWS police cruiser nearby)” will be a costly habit. It’s a crippling blow by the good guys in the war against the boneheads. Some boneheads drink and drive, some speed, some dial up Jeeves on the way home trom the theatre. All boneheads drive through an intersection or two, The camera can snap as many as 800 red-light-run- ning boneheads per hour. I don’t care what stat vou 1997 — North Shore News — 41 ae NEWS photo Torry Peters IT'S about time traffic officials did the right thing and installed cameras at dan- gerous intersections, states Shaun Conlin in this week’s Signals column. An North Vancouver RCMP officer agrees. -" throw at me, intersection photos are sure to be the single, most eflective method of reminding us to be safe. ve 2 ready for winter at Esso! B.C.A.A. - A.R.A. 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