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north shore news

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ie! Your re Oh Camera

Kevin Gillies
News Reporter

IF you're driving out of
town, pay close atten-
tion to traffic lights.

Canada’s first province-
wide red-light camera program
started generating tickets yes-
terday froin sites 1 Vancouver,
Richmond and Abbotstord.

“Red light cameras capture
photos of offenders at danger-
ous intersections selected by
local police,” says Attorney
General Ujjal Dosanjh in a
release.

The cameras are now issu-
ing tickets at:

Kingsway and Nanaimo
Street in Vancouver

& Steveston Highway and No.
4 Road in Richmond, and

@ Harris Road and ‘Highway
11 iz Abbotsford.

The program is being con-
sidered in- North Vancouver
City with police already identi-
fying six “high-collision”
intersections for possible cam-
cras:

@ Lonsdale Avenue and 13th
Street, .
@ Lonsdale Avenue and 23rd

Street,
@ Lonsdale
Esplanade,

tudenis
hand out
driving
aavice
The Insurance
Corporation of B.C. |
has hired 16 students |
vetlel informa
ton at both Lower

’ Mainland BC Ferry
"terminals.

Avenue and

-Through the corporation’s _

Youth Employment Initiative

the students will be stationed |

at the Tsawwassen - and
Horseshoe Bay: terminals dur-
‘ing - peak ‘travel times: —
Thursdays to Mondays.

They will approach dsi-
vers; offering Road Sense tips
such as the proper adjustment
of headrests and seat belts as
well as information about air
bags and child safety seats.

- “This p ership between
. KCBC and the BC Ferry
: Corporation provides. an
. excellent opportunity to con-
" vey safety information to dri-
vers while wey are in their
vehicles,” s ICBC ‘presi-
dent Thom. jompson in 4
release. “Last year our stu-
dents were able to make con-
tact with 108,006 peoole at
the ferry terminals. Building
public awareness about vehi-
cie and road safety is an
’. important part of our efforts
to save lives and reduce crash-
es."
In addition to the students
’ talking to drivers, [CBC has a
tent filied with displays deal-
ing with auto crime preven-
tion and safety driving tips.
The provincial govern-
ment is §

00h ioe ;

eee eb ke SE ee TH Ma ae

ding $34 million

DOSANJH... Using cam-
eras to catch violatars

St. George’s Avenue and
13th Street,

“Marine Drive and Fell
Avenue, and

@ Marine Drive, Bewicke
Avenue, Keith Road and 3rd
Street.

While the camera posts will
likely be erected at some or all
of those six sites, only two will
actually have cameras operat-
ing at one time while the other
four will have “data collection
units” which do not issue tick-
ets. However the municipality
is only starting to explore the
program while $144 tickets are
being issued already at the
other three.

This year cameras will also

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be in) Burnaby, Delta,
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam,
Prince George, Kelowna,
Vernon, Saanich and
Kamloops. By the end of vear
2000, 30 cameras will rotate
among $120 intersection
“sites” throughout 25 B.C.
conumunities. The cameras
photograph vehicles driven
into intersections after the
light has turned red — but nor
those that are already in the
intersection when the light
turns red. Dosanjh said red
light violators present a great
safety risk to all road drivers
and Abbotstord police Const.
Daffvdd Hermann agrees with
him.

Ina presentation to North
Vancouver City council this
week he said, “There are cither
drivers who just aren’t paying
attention or think they can get
through.” He said they are
“drivers gambling with their
ewn and others’ lives.”

Dosanjh said camera testing
revealed some incredible dei-
ving behavior including one car
chat was travelling at 91 kilo-
metres an hour and entered an
interscction 29 seconds after it
turned red.

“That means the car wouid
have been three-quarters of a
kilometre from the light when

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it surned red,” he says.

But a six-week study —
which did nov issue tickets — at
Surrey’s Xing George Highway
and 96th Avenue showed a
dramatic reduction in’ viols-
diens once the public was aware
of the camera’s presence.

There were 28 violations
in the firse week, 16 in the
third, and five in the sixth.

A BC Automobile
Association spokesman said
his organization’s members
overwhelmingly support the
new camera program.

“Red fight running is a
growing hazard, resulting in
frightening and dangerous
experiences for everyone on
the road,” says John Ratei,
RCAA’s director of govern-
mene affairs. “I believe the
cameras will curb this irre-
sponsible driving.”

A project team is working
with police and municipal
engincers to identify intezsec-
dons with high crash statis-
tics. ITCU spokesman Insp.
Kerry Bennington said 20% of
B.C. crashes occurs at inter-
sections with traftic lights.

Registered owners of vehi-
cles that run red lights at
camera sites wil! receive the
$144 ticket and two photos
showing the violation.

Friday, July 16, 1999 — North Shore News — 34

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