CRD asks province to consider interval speed cameras on Malahat

Vehicles on the Malahat. File photo.

The Capital Regional District is asking the B.C. government to consider installing interval speed cameras on the Malahat.

In the letter to Attorney General David Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, the Capital Regional District (CRD) asks that the province consider putting the cameras on a 20-kilometre section of the Trans-Canada Highway, between Langford Parkway and the Mill Bay Road underpass.

Unlike photo radar, which was scapped by the provincial government in 2001, interval cameras calculate the speed it takes for cars to travel between two locations. The cameras would be located at fixed position and record licence plates. If a driver is speeding, they will automatically be mailed a ticket.

Barbara Desjardins, the CRD board chair, wrote in the letter that interval-based enforcement has been successful in every jurisdiction where it has been used.

Desjardins wrote that while the CRD recognizes that members of the government has said photo radar won’t be used in B.C., it also thinks there are merits to examing and testing interval-based speed enforcement since it is different to photo radar used in the past.

“The goal of this request is to make our roads safer and to provide disincentives to drivers who create unsafe conditions through excessive speed on our roads.”

Editorial Policies Report an Error