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01/03/2007
Red-light cameras OK'd by province
The Toronto Sun
Collisions reduced considerably at Toronto intersections during pilot project
BY JAMES COWAN
TORONTO Ontario drivers would be wise to pay the $190 fines associated with new red- light cameras installed at inter-sections, according to those who fight tickets for a living.
Paralegals specializing in traffic cases say it is difficult and exces- sively costly to challenge tickets resulting from red-light cameras and probably not worth the effort of most motorists.
Ontario yesterday approved per- manent use of the technology after four years of testing. Four other provinces already allow red-light cameras as an enforcement tool. According to Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretson, the cam-eras reduced injuries and fatalities by 7% at intersections where they were installed in Ontario.
"Knowing about the presence of these cameras makes people think twice before running a red light; he said.
in, Toronto, cameras resulted in the laying of 28,088 charges dur-ing three years of a pilot program that involved 38 intersections. The intersections had 556 in- juries in the year before the cam- eras, but that number dropped to 455 after they were instated.
Despite the large numb er of tickets issued, only 11% of driv ers choose to challenge the fines. - cording to paralegals who spe cialize in traffic cases, few people protest the tickets because the
do not result in demerit points increased insurance premium;Red-light cameras do not go on
,"Red-light record. It's really just an expensive parking ticket; said Dror Ziskind of Tickets.
Mr. Ziskind said hiring a parale- gal to fight the ticket will cost a minimum of $200. He added that challenging a ticket without
a professional still causes hassles.
"You go to court, you have to line up, pay for parking, ask for a court date, go back, pay for park- ing again, and then you still might not win; he said.
"The system isn't really de- signed for you to fight the ticket."
However, David Matheson of X - Copper said it is not impossible to defeat the tickets.
"You could make the job so diffi- cult for the prosecution, they just withdraw it," he said.
Mr. Matheson, a former police of-ficer, said prosecutors do not have the resources to respond to a full- scale challenge because the province assumes most drivers will simply pay their fines. Therefore, numerous requests for affidavits and other documents can force the prosecutors to drop a traffic case.
But Ontario Transportation Minister Harindar Takhar said municipalities have so far had lit- tle trouble enforcing red-light traffic tickets.
Les Kelman, the director of Toronto's traffic management centre, said the city has success- fully prosecuted 90% of its tick- ets. "If we look at a photograph and the evidence isn't clear, we won't send out the ticket;' he said.
Frank Klees, the transportation critic for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, argued the cam eras could result in innocent dri- vers receiving fines.
"I think this is an easy way for this government to allow for an additional cash grab from mo- torists," Mr. Klees said.
Fines collected by the province will be given back to municipali-ties to pay for the red-light cam- eras. According to Toronto Mayor David Miller however, cities will not make a profit on the project.
"It costs us about $2-million a year to operate the red-light cam- eras and we expect revenues of about $1.5-million a year. So the project will cost us about. $500,000 a year; Mr. Miller said. "We think that's a very good in • vestment in public safety."
National Post
jcowan@nationalpost.com