[DrCaleb]

There is no redemption for the UCP.

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Dwindling photo radar funds could prompt tax hike to cover traffic safety and police shortfall

But it's not a tax grab, right?

One of the few things I agreed with the UCP on, was reigning in photo radar and making the vehicles bright green.

That article is a bit deceptive, because it doesn't mention that fewer people have been on the roads over the past two years due to the pandemic because of working from home, nor does it mention that Edmonton painted their radar vehicles bright yellow three years before it was required of them, so they are easier to spot and slow down for if you're a speeder.

FWIW, I don't think it's really a tax grab, it's a choice. If you don't speed, you don't get a ticket - I've gotten exactly one photo radar ticket in my life, and it was probably two decades ago. I learned my lesson and eased up on the gas pedal. But if you want to go 10-15 over the limit so you can get to work/home a minute or two earlier, then you take your chances.

In that fashion, it's not much different from the Carbon Levy - use your A/C or furnace a little less, walk/bike/take transit, and you can wind up not paying anything after you factor in your carbon refund. But if you want to drive everywhere and run A/C 24/7 during the summer, then you'll wind up paying more than you get back.

Personally, if I ran photo radar, I'd have them on freeways and highways 24/7/365 to enforce the speed limits, and tell police to focus on speed enforcement on residential streets, school zones and other places where it's safer to pull over speeders and the impact on citizens is more impactful.

FYI - effective December 1, all mobile photo radar vehicles in the province will have to be painted bright high-vis colours like yellow or green.

https://www.alberta.ca/photo-radar-alberta.aspx

[DrCaleb]

bootlegga bootlegga:

FWIW, I don't think it's really a tax grab, it's a choice. If you don't speed, you don't get a ticket

While I agree in principal, I found them to be very sneaky about it. Especially in Spruce Grove, they liked to sit in zones where there was a speed change, and get the people who weren't paying attention. I swear they also time the lights so you cannot hit two in a row green if you do the speed limit. And pretty much every set of lights on main roads have cameras.

[herbie]

When we had photo radar they liked to claim it was to enforce speed in school zones and for safety reasons, etc.
I never once saw it used in such a way. It was almost always placed on a 15 km straight stretch of 2 lane hwy where people had to speed up to pass the endless line of logging and chip trucks. In other words, placed where they could give the largest amount of tickets in the least amount of time.
So obvious a cash grab, they didn't even try to pretend otherwise.

[bootlegga]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

bootlegga bootlegga:

FWIW, I don't think it's really a tax grab, it's a choice. If you don't speed, you don't get a ticket

While I agree in principal, I found them to be very sneaky about it. Especially in Spruce Grove, they liked to sit in zones where there was a speed change, and get the people who weren't paying attention. I swear they also time the lights so you cannot hit two in a row green if you do the speed limit. And pretty much every set of lights on main roads have cameras.

Yeah, the rules around transition zones are a bit bogus, because they limit it for 50 or 100 metres or something like that, so the city/town just puts it a block after the sign and still nabs speeders.

Having said that, if you're doing 60+ in a 50 zone, you deserve a ticket and a photo radar ticket is the cheaper and easier option compared to getting pulled over by a cop. Those tickets come with demerits, the possibility of increased insurance, and the added humiliation of getting pulled over.

The timing thing is annoying granted, but what can you do about the intersection of traffic safety and the laws of physics?

[bootlegga]

herbie herbie:

When we had photo radar they liked to claim it was to enforce speed in school zones and for safety reasons, etc.
I never once saw it used in such a way. It was almost always placed on a 15 km straight stretch of 2 lane hwy where people had to speed up to pass the endless line of logging and chip trucks. In other words, placed where they could give the largest amount of tickets in the least amount of time.
So obvious a cash grab, they didn't even try to pretend otherwise.

Nobody HAS to speed up, it's not like they're getting chased by terrorists or something.

The reality is that people get frustrated and want to get around a big slow-moving vehicle, so they speed up.

At highway speeds, adding even 10 km/h to 100 or 110 really adds a lot of force and consequences if they lose control of their vehicle or hit someone else in the reckless passing maneuver. People need to be patient and wait for the passing lane that is 5 or 10 minutes down the road.

Frankly, if the goal is safety, photo radar shouldn't be used in school zone. That enforcement should be handled by cops. Photo radar is best used on high speed roads where it isn't safe for police officers to stand in traffic and write $200 ticket.

[herbie]

Oh Mr. Safety!
Try not doing exactly that when you've been stuck for half an hour behind a logging truck doing 80 up and down the hills, around all curves, And then there's a passing lane so it moves to the right and manages to go 120. Then you hit that 15km straight 2 lane stretch where it goes the 100 speed limit.
Not bullshit, it happens several times, every time I travel Hwy 16.
And it's not just logging trucks, it's people too fucking stupid to use cruise control, dozy bastards, and the Jesus people from Vanderhoof where the most expensive option at the Ford dealer is a gas pedal....

Yes, it's actually against the law to go 101 kmh to pass someone in a 100 zone. That happened to me - some rookie from Regina nailed me for going 92 in a 90 zone in a work truck. My supervisor did a face palm in front of the whole crew when he read the ticket!

[DrCaleb]

Alberta NDP responds to internal letter alleging poor treatment of volunteers

[DrCaleb]

Alberta mountain town will try to appeal development order by provincial tribunal

[bootlegga]

herbie herbie:

Oh Mr. Safety!
Try not doing exactly that when you've been stuck for half an hour behind a logging truck doing 80 up and down the hills, around all curves, And then there's a passing lane so it moves to the right and manages to go 120. Then you hit that 15km straight 2 lane stretch where it goes the 100 speed limit.
Not bullshit, it happens several times, every time I travel Hwy 16.
And it's not just logging trucks, it's people too fucking stupid to use cruise control, dozy bastards, and the Jesus people from Vanderhoof where the most expensive option at the Ford dealer is a gas pedal....

I've travelled to BC a couple dozen times and I've had to deal with that situation almost every single time. One time I got stuck behind a couple dozen RVs from Florida and it took me over an hour to pass all of them.

Now I could get mad at a truck/RV driver in front of me, but the anger really should be directed at BC Transportation (or whatever it's called). They should be building more twinned highways, twinned bridges, more passing lanes, etc. to reduce driver frustration, because that's the type of infrastructure that saves lives.

FWIW, I love the Yellowhead in BC (both 5 and 16), as they were built along the valley floor wherever possible and they have great sightlines allowing you to pass, even without a passing lane. OTOH, the TCH is a congested goat path by comparison and I hate driving it.

herbie herbie:

Yes, it's actually against the law to go 101 kmh to pass someone in a 100 zone. That happened to me - some rookie from Regina nailed me for going 92 in a 90 zone in a work truck. My supervisor did a face palm in front of the whole crew when he read the ticket!

2 km/h over is ridiculous, because that could easily be caused by a fluctuation or error on his radar gun. What you should have done was fight the ticket, and demand that county Mountie show you the logs for the maintenance and repairs on his radar. Odds are you would've gotten off with a warning for that.

[DrCaleb]

'Disastrous overcrowding': Alberta emergency doctors say ERs facing brunt of health-care pressure

They are 'fixing' healthcare.

[llama66]

Breakenridge: A proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act could create economic and constitutional chaos

Forty years ago, Alberta won a decision at the Supreme Court of Canada that prevented the federal government from imposing an export tax on natural gas.

It was a major victory for Alberta and a major rebuke for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program. Presumably, it did not occur to the federal government to simply ignore the ruling and proceed as planned. The disappointment of defeat is surely preferable to the shame of unleashing such destructive mayhem.

Fast forward to present day, where we have seen the Supreme Court of Canada reject challenges to the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX) and, more specifically, reject B.C.’s attempt to usurp federal jurisdiction and block the project.

How anyone would look at all of that and feel that undermining Canada’s constitutional order and rule of law might somehow be in Alberta’s interest is beyond baffling. That an ostensibly serious candidate to become Alberta’s next premier would embrace this nonsense is quite shocking indeed.

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/colum ... onal-chaos

[housewife]

herbie herbie:

Oh Mr. Safety!
Try not doing exactly that when you've been stuck for half an hour behind a logging truck doing 80 up and down the hills, around all curves, And then there's a passing lane so it moves to the right and manages to go 120. Then you hit that 15km straight 2 lane stretch where it goes the 100 speed limit.
Not bullshit, it happens several times, every time I travel Hwy 16.
And it's not just logging trucks, it's people too fucking stupid to use cruise control, dozy bastards, and the Jesus people from Vanderhoof where the most expensive option at the Ford dealer is a gas pedal....

Yes, it's actually against the law to go 101 kmh to pass someone in a 100 zone. That happened to me - some rookie from Regina nailed me for going 92 in a 90 zone in a work truck. My supervisor did a face palm in front of the whole crew when he read the ticket!

They do that on highway 11 north of North Bay. Some of those trucks have a variance of 50 km/h but unless the passing zone is up hill still managed to break the govener and get up better than the posted limit of 90. It’s annoying add in the idiots who think they are on the 401 and it can be a nightmare!

[DrCaleb]

Alberta embraced the cryptocurrency sector. Months later, crypto crashed

[llama66]

Edmonton landlords run 'do not rent' list with hundreds of tenants in private Facebook group
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local- ... book-group