Leadfoots beware!

Council passed a resolution from Councillor Sam Grosso at Committee of the Whole last week directing staff to create an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Program. A report should come by the end of the year.

Photo Radar was a political hot potato almost immediately upon its introduction in 1993. Former Premier Mike Harris campaigned against ASE and abolished it upon taking office in 1995.

But Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act was amended by the provincial government in 2017 to allow the use of ASE in municipalities to address speeding. Still, ASE can only be used in school zones and community safety zones. Because the photo cannot definitively determine who might be driving a vehicle speeding through one of the aforementioned zones, any fine is the responsibility of the vehicle’s owner. No demerit points are assessed, either.

Belleville and Napanee already use ASE, and it appears the County will soon have camera and speed measurement devices to enforce speed limits.

Councillor Grosso denied that ASE’s would wind up becoming a cash cow for County coffers, saying it was about making communities and roads safer.

“There’s a speeding issue in Prince Edward County, in the summertime there are a lot of pedestrians walking their dogs and it’s a real safety concern,” Mr. Grosso said.

Staff is expected to deliver a program design that includes potential placement and equipment procurement options. CAO Marcia Wallace noted ASE programs tend to be cost neutral for the municipalities that deploy them.