With photo radar coming to Highway 20 in Pincourt I hope that one of my neighbors has the resources to fight the inevitable tickets that will flow from this system. I understand that all levels of government need money but do we really have to give up what little freedom we have left just to pay another form of indirect tax/user fee?
The excuses that this is needed to ensure safety & security are just that, excuses. The real goal is to generate a revenue stream for the government.
If they really wanted to reduce accidents and fatalities along this stretch road they would acknowledge that this road is a highway and that it is the signals themselves that are the problem. Although there is no excuse for speeding it needs to be noted that from Montreal to Toronto the only part of Highway 20 that has traffic signals is the Vaudreuil-Dorion-Ile Perrot area. To improve safety we should be removing the signal lights and adding on and off ramps. A highway with no stop lights will be a highway with fewer accidents.
Why is the solution for the West Island intersections (Woodland and Morgan boulevards) to build overpasses while off island the solution is to place photo radar? The answer is simple, photo radar generates revenue at little cost while overpasses are costly to build and maintain.
Also, if the government really believed that the placement of a photo radar site on a highway was the right thing to do why are they planning to collect only fines and not issue demerit points? Is it not the demerit points that really discourage repeat dangerous driving? With a fine only system, drivers can choose to speed with the thought that the fine is just a cost that they may be able to afford.
Yes, I hope that someone has the money to spend on lawyers to fight the ticket they will receive in the mail. This is a borderline illegal money grab that intrudes on our freedom and should be challenged.
Highway revenue stream
Highway revenue stream
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- Michel Ménard
- - February 8th, 2010 at 11:15:01
Well, well, what do we have here? Another speed freak barrelling down our highways. And, to quote, "but do we really have to give up what little freedom we have left...". Would you mind trying to explain that to all the mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters that have lost a loved one because of your "freedom" to speed on the roads. Be they municipal streets or major thoroughfares. Oh, and by the way, if you and your ilk kept to the posted MAXIMUM speed limits you wouldn't have to "pay another form of indirect tax/user fee" as you so aptly describe it. Now that I've vented my spleen, it is in order to remind Mr. Kyle Brown that the section of highway that he refers to will be rebuilt in the foreseeable future, "to improve safety we should remove the signal lights and add on and off ramps". But then I'm sure that it hasn't occurred to Mr. Brown that in order to "improve safety", reducing his speed and obeying the rules of the road would go a long way in achieving that. He might even consider becoming a member of his local CACSP (Commité Action des Citoyens pour la Sécurité Publique) and work hand in hand with the dedicated men and women and the SQ who try to educate the public that speeding invariably ends up being DEAD wrong.
