A handful of B.C. intersections now have new cameras that target drivers for speeding and running red lights.
Five new cameras were activated Monday, according to the ministry of public safety, with 30 more to be installed between now and next spring. Each camera has warning signs set up ahead of the intersections to alert drivers to slow down.
The cameras tracks each vehicle as it enters an intersection, even when on a green light, and automatically sends a ticket to the vehicle’s registered owner, should it be speeding or running a red light. The ministry has not released the exact speed threshold that will trigger a ticket.
The first five locations are Boundary Road at Kingsway in Burnaby, West King Edward Avenue at Granville Street in Vancouver, Kingsway at Victoria Drive in Vancouver, 152 Street at King George Boulevard in Surrey, and Lougheed Highway at Old Dewdney Trunk Road in Pitt Meadows.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth found himself defending the latest cameras when they were announced, arguing they were not photo radar, the much-hated program that ended in 2001 and involved cameras in unmarked vans detecting and ticketing speeders.
READ MORE: NDP defends new speed cameras coming to 35 intersections
According to the data, an average of 10,500 vehicles were caught going at least 30 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit each year between 2012 and 2016.
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