A tool to combat speeders in Spallumcheen will be included in the township’s budget deliberations.
Warren Smith, rural programs coordinator with the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP Safe Communities Unit, presented an extensive report to council after he was asked by the township to provide a comparison between a TMS-SA Radar Counter and other available products.
The TMS-SA is a compact portable traffic counter that can be used for temporary or permanent surveys. It counts vehicles, measures their speed and classifies data.
“It’s good for data collection, there’s a stealth mode that collects information without affecting driver behaviour, it’s wireless management and manages two lanes of unidirectional traffic,” said Smith of the device which costs an estimated $4,300.
The downside is it has limited anti-theft features and does not provide a digital display to educate the motorist, such as a device located on Highway 97 south of Vernon near the Predator Ridge turnoff.
Estimated cost of the other three devices included in Smith’s report range from $5,800 to $10,000, each with a list of pros and cons.
Speeding, particularly along Otter Lake Cross Road and Otter Lake Road in Spallumcheen and Armstrong, where posted speed limits are 50- and 70-km/hour, has been an ongoing issue for Smith and for the RCMP.
Despite their best efforts, people continue to drive fast on those stretches.
At certain times of the day, during 16 speed watches on Otter Lake and Otter Lake Cross Road, between March and November 2012, more than 250 motorists were clocked going more than the posted speed limit.
And while a device with a display board is what Smith recommends, he said it’s only one tool to combat speeding motorists.
Educating traffic, he said, has to be a priority.
“Also having an impact on the driver to influence their behaviour, is very important.”
Smith said there is a possibility of perhaps sharing costs and equipment amongst municipalities.
Coun. Christine Fraser inquired about the possibility of dropping the speed limit along those problem stretches down to 30 km/h.
“That’s one of the possibilities you have to look at,” said Smith. “But you have to take the needs and considerations of those who live along there as well.”
A motion by council to defer the equipment into 2013 budget deliberations was unanimously passed.
