Leadfoot drivers in Edmonton dont seem to be taking a quarantine break while drivers in Calgary seem to be easing off the gas a little bit.

Statistics from the Edmonton Police Service show the number of tickets handed out by photo radar during the first four months of the year including April, when people were to be at home unless out for essential travel soared.

More than 141,000 photo radar tickets have been issued so far in 2020 an increase of 17 per cent from 2019.

That said, the number of intersection cameras in Edmonton has doubled aver the last three years.

While traffic volumes are down overall, we have observed more speeding in our neighbourhoods and along major roadways. Enforcement will continue throughout the city to keep our streets safe, said Edmontons acting director of traffic safety.

We are placing our mobile speed enforcement vehicles in high-priority locations to remind drivers to slow down and drive safely.

Calgary police dont have April figures tabulated yet, but there were 19,718 photo radar violations issued in March 2020, which is a small overall decrease in total tickets (-5.2%) compared to March 2019.

Photo radar had virtually no change in number of tickets issued for vehicles travelling 51 km/h or more over the posted speed limit (as compared with the 5-year average for this speed category), the Calgary Police Service said in a statement to the Western Standard.

(A total of) 10,615 Speed on Green violations observed a slight increase in total violations for the month of March 2020 (12.8%) compared to March 2019.

Many Calgarians had already started working from home in March as the effects of COVID-19 became clear.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson is currently penning a letter to provincial officials asking for a change in the law to allow police to seize vehicles driving at excess speeds. Something police in B.C. and Ontario can do.

Currently, lead-footers in Alberta can only be fined $2,000 and lose six demerit points.

Since the COVID-19 lockdown started, the CPS said it has seen dramatic drops in home B&Es and domestic disputes with violence.

Domestic conflict calls for service have increased, but domestic violence overall has decreased (week over week) by 18 per cent since the beginning of the year, the CPS said in a statement.

Overall violence has decreased steadily since mid-March down about 40 per cent we believein part due tothe closure of bars and other nighttime venues.

Home break and enters are down 60 per cent in the past two weeks. Vehicle thefts have shown a steep decline in the last two weeks, down 50 per cent from the expected levels.

Thefts from vehicles are also down from this time last year, roughly 20 per cent from this time last year.

Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard

dnaylor@westewrnstandardonline.com

TWITTER:Twitter.com/nobby7694

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