Barrie doesn't need red-light cameras, say city staff, cops

Simcoe.com
June 10, 2016
By Jenni Dunning

City of Barrie staff and the Barrie Police Service have recommended against installing red-light cameras at the completion of a year-long study.

Nearby York Region, however, has experienced favourable results from its program, including a 50-per-cent reduction in T-bone car crashes annually since installing the cameras in 2013. It is now preparing to put more in place.

“The results were more than we expected. We were impressed with it,” said Brian Titherington, York Region’s director of roads and traffic operations.

“In the first year of results, we saw about a 50-per-cent reduction in right-angle collisions. Those are the highest (injury-causing) collisions.”

Current data shows that number is closer to 60 per cent, he added.

Expecting a boost in rear-end crashes as more drivers stop because of the cameras, he said the region actually found they decreased by 15 per cent.

Titherington said he expects the overall percentage of reduced collisions to eventually even out to an average of 25 to 30 per cent.

Of the 20 red-light camera locations in York Region, Green Lane and Yonge Street in Bradford saw the biggest difference with 14 collisions in 2013 dropping to four in 2014, he said, noting many Barrie commuters drive through that area.

This data challenges claims outlined in correspondence from the Barrie Police Service to the city stating that although some municipalities say the cameras “provide a safety benefit,” they “do not prevent or reduce the risk of other serious collisions (and) they are not a substitute for on-site police enforcement of the other traffic violations.”

A Barrie police staff sergeant met with city staff in May to review 2015 collision statistics and a survey of 13 intersections and “agreed that the data available did not support the implementation of a RLC (red-light camera) program,” read a June 8 city report.

“Representatives of Barrie Police Service indicated that the service prefers to have officers on potential scenes as they get all directions and all offences (not just RLC).”

One of the concerns outlined in the city staff report was whether there were enough crashes to make installing red-light cameras worthwhile.

Of the approximately 2,000 collisions in Barrie from 2004 to 2015, about 75 (or 3.75 per cent) of them resulted in a charge of failing to yield right of way, which is the most common charge associated with running a red light, read the report.

Ninety-one (or three per cent) of the 2,582 crashes in 2015 met the same charge, it read.

“Based on the collision data, there doesn’t appear to be a substantial safety issue that a RLC program could assist in addressing and it is questionable whether the costs could be recovered,” the report read. “As a result, other traffic engineering initiatives should be reviewed at high-collision intersections before a RLC program is considered.”