Watch your speed next time you head to Canada’s smallest province. Prince Edward Island is about to implement radar cameras—provincial leaders say they plan to get them on the street as soon as possible.
For years, Prince Edward Island has been the province with the lowest speed limits. The fastest speed zones on the island are limited to 90 km/h. Much of the provincial highway system is limited to 80 km/h, and as urban sprawl continues to take over the countryside around the larger towns, those 80 zones are quickly turning into 70, 60 or 50 zones.
With heavy traffic from tourists and farm vehicles on some roads, those low speed limits might be a very good thing in some areas. At other times, locals chafe under the low limits and speed, and the province’s modern highways—particularly the east-to-west, centrally-located Route 2—have become free-for-all zones. Without constant police presence, drivers (and riders) travel at speeds that would lose them their licence in other provinces.
This has particularly come to the forefront in recent days as Islanders complain about excess speed in the province’s western end. One prominent court case in spring of 2023 saw a 24-year-old man sentenced to two years’ house arrest, after he crashed a motorcycle into a teen pedestrian at extra-legal speed. The teen ended up an amputated leg as a result of the collision. The Crown is appealing that sentence and still wants a 20-month jail sentence, and a four-year driving ban.
The radar cameras could greatly reduce high-speed driving and riding in coming months, as they automate the ticketing system. Just like everywhere else in the world, these speed cameras will take a picture of your licence plate and send a ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle. Riders who could exceed the speed limit with little or no concern will now be forced to watch more carefully.
Just as PEI plans to roll these cameras out (after initially approving the idea in 2021), New Brunswick is also ready to introduce radar cameras, and leadership there is also talking about introducing anti-stunting laws. It looks as if the east coast is finally planning to crack down on traffic infractions, after many years of essentially giving motorists the hands-off treatment. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Let us know your thoughts below.
Yes , some people are driving way to fast , when I go 90 everyone passes me like if I’m stop.,never see police tagging speeders .
The inconvenient truth is that PEI’s road system is third rate. What gets politically described as a “modern highway” barely qualifies as a tertiary roadway in other Provinces. The regulatory speed limits are prudent given the lack of roadway base structure, paved shoulders, visible markings and warning sign placement.
PEI highways are all access for agriculture, industry, tourism and local traffic alike. Without medians or effective retroreflective painting, center line cats eyes and curve signage, these roads are death traps at higher speeds, especially at night or in diminished weather conditions. And that’s assuming sober, alert drivers on the roads.
Speed cameras don’t prevent speeding, they deter it to areas where cameras aren’t placed. They don’t deter impaired driving either. What speed cameras do well is collect data and taxes in the form of fines. They don’t allow for explanations, regardless of what the Judiciary asserts. That’s because the law is written as an absolute liability offence. “Did you exceed the speed limit, Y/N?” If yes, then guilty, period!
It’s all great until a prominent person or politician gets caught, then the system is rigged so that the offence is not recorded. Any protestations to the contrary are lies and theatrics. Something all politicians must do to survive. Perverse, but true.
Citizens will do what was done in Ontario two decades ago when speed cameras were first introduced. Cameras will be vandalized and rendered unusable. Ultimately the maintenance required to calibrate, repair and service the cameras will cost more than the fines and their administration.
Less government, efficiently using the gasoline road tax for its intended purpose is the answer.
Speed cameras are a dumb idea and so are the politicians who push them in the name of public safety. Regulate yourselves people, that’s what makes a civil society we want to live in, not a militarized police state.
Freedom demands responsibility.
Bad idea PEI just copies Ontario which is a failed state. More government regulation is ruining our lives
The speed limits on pei are ridiculously slow in many areas. All this is , is a money grab . Perhaps if the speed limits were more resonable speeding would be such a issue. When 90 percent of drivers on some roads are above the posted limit perhaps that should be a clue to raise the limit. Instead , officials will listed to one person that likes to drive slow and lower the limit and grab some more money. People tend to stay more focused at higher speeds as well. When limits are to slow to keep the mind engaged they become distracted and pay less attention to what they should be doing.
My issue with it, is that it still doesn’t fix the super low speed limits in areas where they should be higher. Places that are still set to 50kph, because 25 years ago it was a busy town, and now has like 3 houses