BC government has no plans to bring back photo radar
With ICBC forecasting a $1.3-billion loss by the end of the end of its fiscal year, some have suggested it may be time to bring back photo radar.
However, while other provinces such as Alberta currently have photo radar programs in place, the province has no intention of going down that road.
“To be clear, the province is not considering bringing back photo radar,” the Ministry of Transportation told Daily Hive on Friday.
That being said, BC “continues to explore new technologies and approaches to changing driver behaviours, including speeding.”
For example, while BC already has an “intersection safety camera” program to ticket drivers who enter the intersection on a red light, the “Attorney General acknowledged that using red light cameras for speed enforcement is an interesting suggestion and is something government is looking at.”
The main difference between intersection safety cameras and the old photo radar system, the Ministry said, “is that road users would be made aware of the intersection safety cameras through signage while photo radar was conducted in a covert, non-signed manner.”
For now, the Ministry added, the most successful road safety jurisdictions use automated enforcement technology in a “predictable, transparent manner at high-crash locations to change driver behaviour and reduce crashes.”
Trend is “not sustainable”
In its report, ICBC’s projected net loss “for our full 12-month, fiscal year (ending March 31, 2018) now stands at almost $1.3 billion.”
The corporation said the amount of premiums it is collecting from customers “is not covering the ever-increasing amounts we are paying out in claims costs.”
This trend, said ICBC, “is not sustainable.”
ICBC said it is now working alongside the government to take the steps necessary to bring about “long-term solutions” that will put ICBC back on a stable financial footing to ultimately create “a sustainable auto insurance system for BC.”
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