The Wild West era of free-for-all riding in Atlantic Canada may be coming to an end, with news that speed cameras and other automated traffic enforcement may be coming to New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia politicians asking to follow suit.
In New Brunswick, municipal governments can now use not just speed cameras, but lots of other automated traffic enforcement technology. This includes red light cameras, automated plate readers, and other similar devices—you can read the whole bill here.
This means that, instead of posting traffic officers everywhere to catch speeders, municipalities can now throw up a camera and start handing out tickets. Under the current law, the government is not required to post warning signs ahead of where the cameras are posted, either.
For years, under-staffed police departments in New Brunswick appeared to de-prioritize traffic enforcement. Similar to Nova Scotia, the city streets and main four-lane highways did see some police presence, but otherwise, it was rare to see anyone getting a ticket. The new law will probably change that, since city governments will be unable to resist the allure of “free money.” However, the new law isn’t all bad news for motorcyclists.
If municipalities prioritize red light cameras over speed cameras, the SMIDSY (Sorry, Mate, I Didn’t See You) drivers who typically run over riders at intersections may slowly be re-trained out of their unsafe driving habits. Red light cameras only hurt people who are doing an inherently dangerous activity.
But speeding cameras can hand out tickets to riders who may only be sticking to the flow of traffic, which is something that even official driver instruction books will tell you to do. Removing human discretion from the ticket issuing can remove common sense from the procedure. New Brunswick’s rules say humans are supposed to interpret the photos before tickets are handed out to the vehicle’s registered owner (since they have no way of determining who was driving at the time of the ticket). However, this whole process is obviously open to problems.
So, we’ll see how it all plays out—and how the idea spreads across Atlantic Canada, where we see Halifax’s politicos are now also asking for the cameras to theoretically slow down traffic…