Since a motion was passed by Estevan's council a couple of weeks ago to introduce a new speed limit bylaw, the wheels have been put in motion so that the new restrictions could be enforceable in the early part of 2013.
About half of the city's population who went to the polls in the recent civic election voted in favour of reducing the speed limit to 40 from 50 km/h while keeping it at 50 along the city's main thoroughfares. It was a non-binding vote that was pretty well split down the middle as to those who wanted the change and those who called for speed limit status quo. But following up on the wishes of the local police service and police board, the newly-elected council decided it would be best to comply by passing a motion to build a new speed restriction.
Now the question becomes one of enforcement in 2013 since no speed bylaw is worth much of anything if it can't be enforced.
If the City is serious about the question, then we suggest that one good step toward making the task a bit easier would be the deployment of a photo/radar unit that would assist law enforcement officers. We believe the purchase would be cost effective, with owners of photographed vehicles who have been "caught" exceeding the speed zone limits being ticketed. The practice is enforceable since the units have been used in several communities and have been backed up by the courts. The owners of vehicles get to sort the issue out with the drivers of the vehicles, if that is the case.
A photo/radar unit would also eliminate the problem of enforcing the speed laws when they are being broken by commercial truckers who are merely passing through the city and generally disregard a locally produced speeding ticket. A fine, having to be paid by the truck's owner, would probably improve the ticket payment efficiency rate. Since it appears we face several more years before we'll get a commercial truck bypass in this region, there is a need to try to protect what little remains of the current inner city truck route and other local motorists.
The City already has one effective electronic tool at its disposal in the form of a speed activated welcome and monitoring board that reminds motorists passing in front of it how fast they are going and what the area speed limit is. Unfortunately this reminder board has not been used for the past two years, at least not to our knowledge. When it was used in the city's high traffic/high speed areas for a couple of years, it proved its worth, but apparently not enough to warrant its continued deployment.
So if a photo/radar and the reminder board were to be activated, we suggest that local law enforcement could begin a new era of speed control by using them first to check the speeds of vehicles passing through local 30 km/h school and playground zones. In the past, the speed restrictions in these zones that are already on the bylaw books, appear to be signals for motorists to accelerate through them rather than reduce speeds. They are the areas that should be a priority.
As noted at the outset, it would be easy pickings and cost-effective to purchase photo/radar and redeploy the monitor board. But police have to have enough personnel and time to address the new situation. If they don't, then the entire exercise and arguments for and against speed law changes are moot.
