Photo-radar review demanded

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This article was published 23/05/2012 (5268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Selinger government should unplug a controversial photo-radar unit at Grant Avenue and Nathaniel Street and order an independent review into its accuracy, critics say.

They also say all tickets issued at the intersection should be suspended pending the outcome of that review.

“There’s an obligation on behalf of the government to ensure people have faith in the photo-radar system,” Progressive Conservative justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said Tuesday. “I think people have been losing confidence over the last number of years, and one way to restore confidence is to suspend those tickets.”

But the NDP says that’s unlikely to happen.

“The key issue though, is should we have photo radar in school zones, playgrounds, construction zones and in red-light areas, and after 10 years, the evidence shows it does work in terms of safety,” Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said.

Calls for a review of the Grant and Nathaniel photo-radar location come on the heels of the abrupt end to a court case last week.

Winnipegger Philip Johst saw the Crown drop a speeding violation against him after an expert witness testified metal signposts could interfere with the radar’s accuracy.

The Crown called no evidence to refute that claim, leaving it unanswered, Goertzen said. “If the government feels it’s an important safety measure, it should be able to defend it,” he said.

WiseUp Winnipeg and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation also want independent testing of the Grant Avenue camera and point to a recent Australian case to back them up.

Twenty-eight speeding tickets have been withdrawn in the province of Victoria because of metal objects interfering with the radar’s beam, producing excessive speed readings.

Camera operators there are trained not to station mobile cameras near metal surfaces, such as parked cars, metal fences or road signs, reports say.

Police in Winnipeg have argued the mobile unit on Grant produces accurate speed readings and they are not in the business of issuing wrongful tickets.

WiseUp’s Todd Dube and the CTF’s Colin Craig said the lessons learned in Australia should be applied here to answer whether the camera at Grant and Nathaniel is accurate.

“If they’re not accurate, then people are getting speeding tickets they don’t deserve, and that’s wrong,” Craig said.

“This isn’t some banana republic that we’re quoting evidence from. This is Australia, a developed nation, respected among the world for integrity. If this doesn’t do it, for goodness sake, what will?”

Goertzen also used the photo-radar court case to lead off question period at the legislature Tuesday, arguing there should be a review to relieve public skepticism of photo radar.

Innovation, Energy and Mines Minister Dave Chomiak, a lawyer, said in the house because Johst’s case was stayed, there was no finding in fact and no precedent set, and therefore no reason to review anything.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca