By Stephanie Villella

City of Medicine Hat weighs in after small Alberta town eliminates photo radar

Mar 14, 2017 | 5:16 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB —  A small town located 145 kilometers southwest of Edmonton has voted to remove its photo radar.

Drayton Valley held a referendum earlier this year and found that 75 per cent of people wanted to scrap the automated traffic enforcement.

Here in Medicine Hat, the topic of removing traffic cameras has never been on city council’s agenda.

Councillor Robert Dumanowski said unless the public demands for a change, the city will not discuss eliminating photo radar.

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“We haven’t been asked to, formally, to hold a referendum. That comes in a form of a plebiscite or a petition by the community or to hold such a vote,” he said.  “Ultimately, it’s up to the public if they wish to have something like that done.”

He said the traffic cameras are working as the city has seen a decrease in the number of speed violations.

The number of tickets issued by photo radar from 2015 to 2016 has dropped by over 6,000, even though the number of vehicles monitored went up in 2016.

“Pretty significant statistics that the public understands that speeding hurts, speeding can kill, its dangerous,” said Dumanowski. “[Drivers] are taking the steps necessary to reduce their speed.”

Hatters have mixed opinions on the photo radar.  Some people wish to get rid of them, like Drayton Valley, while some think they are necessary to have to keep the streets calm.

As of now, Medicine Hat city council has no intention of removing the automated traffic enforcement, as it has been around for 20 years.