Opinion: Automated speed enforcement needed on Stanley Park Causeway

Stanley Park Causeway. (Government of BC)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by Bruce Rose-Innes, who is an advocate for safer streets and better urban environments.

On Saturday, July 20, a young motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a firetruck on the Stanley Park Causeway. This incident not only took a life but also permanently affected many others — the driver of the firetruck, the family members of the deceased, and the bystanders who witnessed a horrific scene they will never forget.

According to ICBC, there have been over 200 crashes on the Stanley Park Causeway and Lions Gate Bridge since 2019 that have resulted in injury or fatality. That’s almost one a week.

The lane configuration on the causeway and bridge is inherently dangerous. There is no barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes, and the alternating middle lane adds complexity. Even at the 60 km/hr speed limit, vehicles travelling in opposite directions have a combined closing speed of 120 km/h. At that speed, a head-on collision is likely to be fatal or cause serious injury. Yet, vehicles frequently travel much faster.

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The exact cause of the collision on Saturday is not yet public, and I won’t speculate. However, the evidence is clear: speed kills. It’s as simple as that. When drivers travel at higher speeds, their margin for error diminishes. Their peripheral vision narrows, and braking distances increase. Speeding makes collisions more likely and more severe.

This has been said many times before, but safety concerns alone do not seem to resonate with the public. Therefore, I make my call to action based on a different argument.

Following the July 20 collision, the Lions Gate Bridge was closed for about five hours. Traffic backed up on both sides of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and came to a standstill. I experienced this firsthand. Eventually, I parked my car and finished my journey on a Lime bike (an excellent decision, by the way).

This pattern has been repeated numerous times. A crash on the causeway or bridge leads to partial or complete road closures that cause gridlocked traffic and tens of thousands of lost hours.

Webcam screenshot showing gridlock on West Georgia Street entering the Stanley Park Causeway towards the Lions Gate Bridge. (Government of BC)

Many of these events could be prevented if fewer people sped on the causeway and bridge. Speeding doesn’t just endanger lives; it wastes time. The hours we lose to collision-induced congestion must far exceed the scant time savings from driving faster.

There is a simple solution. If would-be speeders on that corridor knew that a speeding ticket was not just a remote possibility but an inevitability, they would soon change their behaviour. Fewer crashes, fewer road closures, and less knock-on congestion would result. More time with family and friends, less time stuck in traffic. (Oh, and fewer deaths and injuries.)

I propose automated speed enforcement as the solution. The police cannot be everywhere at once, but automated speed cameras can. These cameras operate in a few different ways. For instance, a pole-mounted camera can measure a vehicle’s speed at a specific location, or a pair of cameras spaced apart can measure a vehicle’s travel time over that distance and calculate its average speed. The speeding driver receives a ticket in the mail. As the system operates 24/7, scofflaw drivers soon learn that speeding on that roadway is not worthwhile.

In British Columbia, automated speed enforcement is currently only used at a few intersections. Let’s implement it on the Stanley Park Causeway and Lions Gate Bridge. I am confident that we will be pleased with the results.

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