State-of-the-art cameras will soon be installed at 140 of British Columbia’s most dangerous intersections to crack down on red-light runners and collisions, the province announced yesterday.
John van Dongen, solicitor general and minister of public safety, said 53,000 people are killed or injured in intersection collisions every year in B.C.
“We are upgrading our technology and targeting more high-crash intersections to catch, penalize and deter more dangerous drivers,” he said.
The most recent study of B.C.’s camera program, conducted by ICBC in 2006, found that crashes involving death or injury declined 6.4 per cent at sites with red-light cameras.
The $20-million program will replace B.C.’s 30 current film cameras with 140 digital cameras, which photograph the licence plates of drivers who run red lights. Tickets are then mailed to the drivers.
