City Has No Figures On Speed Camera Injury Reduction
The Bulldog asked the City of Ottawa Friday if there has been an increase, decrease or roughly the same number of injuries and accidents at speed-camera locations here.
There appear to be reduced speeds at those locations but does that necessarily mean fewer accidents and injuries.
The City of Ottawa was unable to produce an answer to that five years into the implementation of speed cameras in Ottawa.
This is the response The Bulldog received from city media relations on the topic:
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Good afternoon Ken,
I’m glad we could get you something before the weekend. Please let us know if you might need anything else.
It’s important to note that the primary focus of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras is on speeding, and while collision data can be found on Open Ottawa, along with ASE Camera locations, the collision data would not be tabulated with regard to proximity of an ASE Camera.
However, to align with Recommendation 2, of the Audit of the Automated Speed Enforcement and Red-Light Camera Programs, which speaks to broadening performance indicators, the City is also monitoring collision data over time at Automated Speed Enforcement camera locations. The summary of that collision analysis will be presented in the 2025 Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) report later this fall. It is not yet finalized.
“Since the launch of Ottawa’s Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) pilot in 2020, safety on streets has increased significantly. The program has helped reduce dangerous speeding in key areas, and more drivers are now complying with posted speed limits. Data from the original eight camera locations shows a clear shift: before installation, only 16 per cent of drivers were following the speed limit. Four years later, that number has improved to 87 per cent. This means fewer speeding vehicles in school zones and residential areas, making it safer for people walking, biking, and crossing the street.”
– Attributed to Kunjan Ghimire, Program Manager, Automated Enforcement Programs
Kind regards,
Media Relations Team
Ken Gray
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A lot of words to say nothing of any value!
Per the response from the city’s media relations department:
> for the eight original speed camera sites, significantly more motorists (87% now vs. 16% originally) are travelling within the speed limit;
> staff do not correlate injuries to non-motorists due to motor vehicles in the proximity to the speed cameras.
Is there any data for the speed cameras that were installed after the original eight?
The inference of the first point is that there appears to be a direct correlation between the presence of a speed cameras and lower speeds. Likely causation, as well. While there are a lot of studies that show that the higher the speed at the time of a collision the more severe the injuries, in the absence of objective evidence, the correlation remains conceptual.
The inference of the second bullet is that staff either didn’t think that a correlation of injuries to speed cameras was important – or they didn’t care whether it was. This is worrisome, as the pre-amble to the enabling provincial legislation was that the speed cameras were to be positioned where they would be most effective in reducing the risk of injury to school children. The implication is that speed cameras may have been put in places without sufficient regard for whether the location is actually problematic. Dare I say that the only criteria is that there is a school nearby?
Prudent councillors and MPPs might ask what criteria were used to select the location of the speed cameras. Why near this school but not that one?
The objective of the questions should be for those tasked with oversight of staff decisions to determine whether staff are deploying limited resources effectively.
I guess, the city must consider Fisher ave a raceway. Currently, there is a red light camera on Fisher at Meadowlands, plus a speed camera on Fisher near the high school. In the coming weeks/months there will be another speed camera on Fisher, just south of Meadowlands and then another speed camera on Fisher near Trent.
I would be interested in the cost of this program. It should include studies, accidents, speeding data (which I can only assume comes from those speed tracking devices) – are they even calibrated from time to time? Then the cost of installation, including signs, calibration (hopefully). Throw in the maintenance cost of all these – is it in house or contracted out?
MM, your question regarding the frequency (if any) of calibration should be a topic of further discussion.
My recollection of a discussion with a radar specialist (aircraft equipment, not traffic) is that radar detectors are relatively sensitive devices, particularly to temperature. He was bemoaning the challenges of calibrating a radar device on the tarmac in July (30 C), when it would be operating at 10,000 metres, where the temperatures would be well below -50C.
Temperatures inside a metal box exposed to a July sun would be well over 40C. During the winter the radar could be exposed to -40C during a prolonged cold spell.
Not to worry though. I recall a police officer (a neighbour at the time) telling me that the legislation for using radar evidence excluded the right of the defendant/accused to bring into question the technical quality of the radar device, including requesting service records and calibrations. All of which is to say that the person(s) who drafted the legislation were well aware of the relative inaccuracy of the measurement.
Ron
Agree with you 100%. In a previous life, pre-2000 (I’m surprised I’m remembering that far back – hahaha) I was in law enforcement, and I was responsible for calibrating road side breathalysers for our shift. That was not fun, nor easy.