Edmonton councillor calls on minister to reverse photo radar cuts after 20th traffic fatality of 2025
Edmonton police on Thursday announced a motorcyclist was killed earlier this week by colliding with a concrete barrier in a south Edmonton industrial park near Highway 2 and Highway 19. The 40-year-old's death brings Edmonton to 20 traffic fatalities for 2025, approaching the total deaths in all of 2023 (27) and 2024 (26).
'The unfortunate reality is that 20 individuals have died on our streets this year alone,' Interim Chief Devin Laforce said in a news release. 'These are our friends, our family, our coworkers.'
The grim milestone comes less than one year after provincial Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen reduced the number of photo radar speed enforcement locations by 70 per cent. The announcement — made at an Edmonton barbecue restaurant, where an aproned Dreeshen decried the tool as a 'cash cow' — prompted concerns from Edmonton city councillors and Calgary's police chief, who accused the minister of being 'unprofessional' and making light of road fatalities.
On Thursday, Edmonton Coun. Ashley Salvador said the changes — which banned city-operated photo radar in all but school, playground and construction zones — effectively eliminated photo radar as a speed enforcement tool. The City of Edmonton ended photo radar enforcement in school zones effective July 1, citing the cost, which was subsidized by revenue from photo radar on roads where it is now banned.
'Given what we've been seeing on our streets, given the surge in fatalities, I do think the province needs to reconsider their approach,' Salvador said. '(Photo radar) is a known tool that is backed up by data and evidence to help support traffic safety as part of a larger suite of tools. As a growing city, we need all the tools we can get to support safety in our neighbourhoods.'
Edmonton police were not able to provide statistics Thursday on how often speed was a factor in this year's traffic fatalities. In May, police said speed was a factor in nearly half, including three people killed on Edmonton roads in a single weekend.
Laforce said Thursday that police are focusing 'significant resources' on traffic safety, including education campaigns 'to remind Edmontonians that speeding on our roadways is not without immense risk and potentially tragic outcomes.'
The service has not taken a position on the elimination of photo radar but has called for the power to seize vehicles clocked going 50 km/h above the speed limit.
'Regardless of the province's automated enforcement guidelines or the city's decision to scale back the tool, the EPS will continue in its ongoing traffic safety efforts using more traditional direct policing measures,' EPS spokesperson Brooke Timpson said in a news release.
'We will also work collaboratively with our numerous traffic safety partners to maintain and prioritize the safety of the public using its existing response and specialized traffic resources to ensure that those individuals choosing to engage in dangerous or other unlawful behaviours are held accountable.'
Timpson added, 'The public should not interpret the scaling back of (photo radar) as implicit approval to engage in high-risk or other unlawful driving behaviours.'
Salvador said she hears from constituents increasingly 'alarmed' by behaviours they're seeing from drivers. While the city has other tools to limit dangerous driving — including education campaigns and infrastructure improvements — limiting enforcement 'makes the rest of the strategy hard to deliver on,' she said. 'So it's a significant loss.'
Dreeshen's office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Edmonton has signed on to the Vision Zero strategy to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries by 2032.
jwakefield@postmedia.com
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Related
'Absolutely concerned': Edmonton mayor, councillors react to Alberta photo radar plan
Edmonton police chief pleads with drivers to slow down after three fatal weekend crashes
City of Edmonton ends school photo radar, citing costs and issues beyond speeding
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