Following the rousing success of its pilot program, Saskatchewan has decided to make speed cameras permanent fixtures on the province’s major thoroughfares.
The pilot originally launched three years ago, with the speed enforcement devices installed in parts of Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.
Citing data it has recently collected, Saskatchewan said the number of speeding drivers has gone down in tested areas (both high-speed locations and school zones), resulting in fewer collisions and injuries.
Test locations fitted with the speed cameras were marked with prominent signs warning motorists; the province said that the arrangement will continue.
“It’s been a really positive effect. And with those fewer casualties and injuries on the roads, that’s very positive,” said Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) minister Joe Hargrave. “We know that just makes it safer.”
The Canadian Press reported that thanks to the program, the government achieved its target of lowering the percentage of drivers violating the speed limit to less than 1%, on average. At tested school zones, the number of collisions resulting in casualties also dropped by seven each year during the pilot period.
With the success of the program, the province is looking to install the cameras at additional sites – to be determined by a committee consisting of representatives from the government, SGI, RCMP, municipal police, urban and rural municipal associations and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
