An image of a truck going through a red-light in Vancouver. The province says 140 red-light cameras at high-crash intersections in the province, including six on Vancouver Island, are now operating at all times, up from six hours a day. Photo courtesy ICBC.
The province says all 140 red-light cameras at high-crash intersections are operating 24 hours a day, confirming plans set out in September to have the cameras at full activation.
There are six of those cameras on Vancouver Island from Victoria to Courtenay.
The cameras had been operating for six hours a day, but the B.C. government announced full activation last September with updated service and data-transmission capacity.
Staff has also been increased to review incidents and process additional tickets to drivers caught running red lights.
“Last year, we saw a record 350,000 crashes in B.C., with about 60 per cent of them happening at intersections,” Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said in a release.
“The full activation of these cameras is overdue and an important step for safety on some of our busiest roadways.”
A red-light offence happens when a vehicle enters an intersection after the signal light turns red and the vehicle’s registered owner is responsible for the ticket, even if they are not driving.
Plans were announced in March to add technology to catch drivers speeding through Intersection Safety Camera (ISC) locations on red, yellow or green lights.
The province says analysis of crash and speed data will help determine which locations receive the speed activated cameras.
Red-light cameras in full operation on Vancouver Island include the intersection of Shelbourne Street and Hillside Avenue in Victoria, which ICBC reports had an average of 62 crashes per year between 2009 and 2013.
ICBC says 21 of those incidents resulted in injuries.
In Saanich, cameras are going 24/7 at the intersection of the TransCanada Highway and Tillicum Road, which had an average of 52 crashes per year and 29 that resulted in injuries.
The red light cameras in Duncan, at the intersection of Highway 1 and Trunk Road averaged 49 crashes per year, with 24 resulting in injuries.
Island Highway at Norwell Drive in Nanaimo had the highest rate of vehicle incidents, with 62 crashes and 31 that reported injuries.
Another Nanaimo intersection at Island Highway and Aulds Road averaged 54 crashes per year and 23 that resulted in injuries.
The intersection of 17th Street and Cliffe Avenue in Courtenay had an average of 38 crashes per year with 17 that resulted in injuries.
The province says there is an average of 11,000 crashes each year at an intersection with red-light cameras.
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