Posts Tagged ‘calgary police’
Calgary Police Sargeant Texting While Driving (Photo by: forum member Jetta-2.0)
Starting this Thursday, Police in Alberta will be able to start issuing tickets under the Traffic Safety Act for distracted driving. On September 1, 2011 the amendment of Section 115 takes effect and will prohibit drivers from using hand-held cell phones to not only make calls but more importantly text or e-mail. The use of electronic devices such as laptops, portable gaming systems, video screens (portable or built into the vehicle) is also not allowed. While using a GPS will still be allowed, drivers will not be able to enter information into one while driving.
The new distracted driver bylaw does not stop there though. Reading, writing, drawing and personal grooming and hygiene are all on the “not allowed” list. Getting caught doing any of the above activities while operating a vehicle and it’ll cost you a nice $172. Notice the use of the word “vehicle”. That’s right, if you do any of the above while riding your bicycle, you could technically still be ticketed so put away that floss as you pedal down the pathways.
Will the distracted driving bylaw be effective as a road safety measure? Without demerit points to go with the fine, some drivers may find it worth the risk to continue doing what they do. On that same note, police officers knowing that the ticket does not have demerits may write more tickets as they know most people will not bother fighting the ticket as it will likely cost more to fight than to simply pay the fine.
Those in the insurance industry may be able to shed some light on this, but as a non-moving violation will drivers that get hit with this face higher insurance premiums? According to the Government of Alberta website, drivers that commit moving violations may get two tickets, one for the distracted driving and one for their moving violation. Police departments will be happy to hear they’ll be able to pick up an extra $150 in revenue each time they issue one of these tickets.
Some questions for you to ponder as we countdown to 9/1: Is eating a distraction? What about pets running around the vehicle? Can a conversation with a back seat passenger be a distraction? Is driving distracted worse or is driving while tired?
Drive safe! :)
Resources: Alberta Distracted Driving Legislation
The Calgary Police Service Bait Car Program has been successful since it launched about 18 months ago and now the program is expanding to the Calgary Transit LRT parking lots as well as the Park and Ride lots.
The campaign is a highly visible one with signs posted at LRT lots warning thieves that Bait Cars are being used. Ads for the Bait Car program are also running on buses and on bus shelters. Calgary Police are confident that the expansion of the Bait Car program will further reduce car thefts which had already dropped by 29% over the last year and by over 50% since 2007.
“The message is simple. Steal a bait car and we’ll catch you and you will go to jail.
“We have a lot of success with this program as part of the overall auto theft strategy,” police Staff Sgt. Colin Adair said.
No details of the Bait Car program were released to ensure the program remains effective but the bait vehicles will be placed randomly in lots where auto thefts are a problem. I really hope they release the videos from the Bait Cars.
Photo: Heang Uy (flickr: heanguy)
If you are a habitual jaywalker, this morning may not be a good day to do it. Calgary Police and Calgary Transit officers will be out in full force starting at 6:30am targetting pedestrians who jaywalk. The goal of the blitz is to increase awareness of the dangers that jaywalking poses.
Police departments from all across Canada have been focusing on pedestrian safety after a rash of pedestrian deaths in Toronto and one just last month in Calgary. In all of these cases, the pedestrians were crossing the street at an unsafe spot.
“It’s a concern to us and that’s why we’ve decided to take this initiative,” he said, adding the idea that drivers are always to blame in pedestrian-vehicle crashes is simply untrue.
“Anybody who uses the road has a responsibility to make sure they’re using the road properly, safely and lawfully.” - Const. Peter Adria, Calgary Police Service
The safety blitz is expected to run through to the end of the morning rush hour and if the past is any indication, the City of Calgary will be getting a nice injection of revenue after this is all said and done. Last summer during a crackdown on pedestrians on 8th street and 7th avenue, officers were kept busy issuing warnings and tickets.
A fun event was held on Friday morning for the commute to work. A mini challenge was put up to see whether a cyclist, a transit rider or a person driving a car would get downtown faster. The three challengers met at 16th Avenue and 19th street N.W. and they would meet at Eau Claire Market. The event was organized by Lonny Balbi in an effort to raise awareness that cycling is an excellent alternative to driving.
“Today’s event is a fun event to show Calgarians that cycling is a viable way to get to work,” said event organizer Lonny Balbi.
Of course, knowing that the result of the challenge is not surprising. The cyclist of course obeyed all traffic rules but even if he didn’t I doubt he would’ve received any tickets since he was Rick Hanson, the Calgary Police Chief. He arrived at Eau Claire in 21 minutes. The car took 26 minutes and the poor transit rider took over 40 minutes.
While the race was obviously geared towards the cyclists to encourage everyone to bike to work, I was surprised that it took the transit rider 40 minutes to reach Eau Claire unless they couldn’t get on a morning train because it was so packed either that or they stopped off at Tim Horton’s while walking from the train station on 7th avenue.
This upcoming Friday, May 1st is Bike to Work Day. Let’s just hope the weather cooperates for those that will be hitting the pathways to get to work.
A man has died from injuries suffered during an early morning arrest at a 24-hour car wash. Police from the auto theft unit were following a vehicle in unmarked police cruisers when the driver pulled into a car wash at 3:15am. Police decided to move in to make the arrest by blocking the vehicle in the car wash bay when the driver attempted to ram the police vehicles to escape.
“While attempting to arrest the occupant of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and shots were fired by one of our police officers,” duty inspector Vic Trickett said.
“There was only one option here — stop the offender,” said John Dooks.
What made deadly force necessary, Dooks said, was that the driver of the car tried ramming police vehicles positioned on either side of the bay in an attempt to escape.
Nearby residents who heard squealing tires and gunshots called 911 only to be told that police were already on scene. It has not been confirmed, but early reports indicate that the man who was shot was behind the wheel of the car. The passenger in the vehicle was not injured.
There was no mention on whether or not the vehicle involved was a bait car but judging by how everything went down it is unlikely this was the case. Incidents like this are all the more reason for having a bait car system where officers can safely shut down the vehicle and make a safe arrest.
Motorists in Calgary have yet another thing to deal with on the roads and the City of Calgary will soon have another lucrative revenue stream. The Speed on Green intersection cameras have started snapping photos of vehicles that speed through intersections while the light is green or yellow. The cameras are the same ones that are used to catch red light runners but they have been reprogrammed to catch speeders.
The Calgary Police Service has completed their testing of the new speed camera functionality and tickets will be sent to the registered owners of vehicles that speed through the intersections. Fortunately the tickets will be warning tickets to let the public know about the new initiative. After the grace period is over, fines of up to $350 or even mandatory court appearances will be handed out. It is expected that the city will begin issuing actual tickets with fines starting on April 1 but the province is pushing for a grace period of at least 90 days.
You can thank Art Johnston, an MLA from Calgary for the new speed cameras. The former Calgary Police officer of 25 years is the politician that sponsored the law allowing these cameras in the province. Art denies that the cameras are a cash cow and that public safety is the primary concern. Until tickets are issued to the actual drivers of the vehicles (photo taken of actual driver) it is nothing but a cash cow. Photo Radar is already in use and is ineffective in terms of increasing safety on the roads, I don’t see how speed cameras will be any different.
In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.
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Best TV Shows Flying Under the Radar
There is a lot of great television on these days, in fact theres too much! I can’t even keep up with a PVR so I’ve had to stop watching certain shows that don’t make the cut as there just isn’t enough time to keep up. Many people miss out on shows simply because there are so many of them trying to get our attention and inevitably, some of them slip under the radar. What are some shows you love that are not getting the attention they deserve?
Speed On Green Cameras Approved in Alberta
Red Light Cameras in Edmonton and Calgary will soon have a new feature enabled on them that will let the Police collect revenue for those that speed through intersections. While the original rationale behind the push for “speed on green” cameras was to nab drivers that sped up when the light turned yellow, the functionality allows the cameras to take photos of drivers that speed through intersections even on fresh greens. The province has allowed cameras to begin operating with the new features effective January 1, 2009 but it will take some time to turn on the new features. Calgary Police plan on having a grace period of 90 days before actual tickets are issued.
Tom’s Bottle Recycling Center Reviews Thread
This thread just had to be a part of the weekly review! :) Tom has been gracious enough to write up a review of two bottle depots in Calgary when he recently did a quick test of them. He got 100% of the money he was supposed to at both places and gives them both a thumbs up if you plan on recycling some bottles in the near future (who isn’t with all the CHRISTMAS dinners coming up?).
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :)
The Christmas party season is well underway and the Calgary Police Service has expanded their Checkstop program to run 24 hours a day. With the holiday season, police expect that there will be many people who will get behind the wheel after having a few drinks at their company parties. Normally, these drivers would be able to drive without fear of being stopped at a Checkstop because they normally run in the evenings and on the weekends.
While I was skeptical about the program, I was dead wrong about it not having much of an impact. For two days this week the Calgary Police were able to cause traffic to come to a complete standstill on a major throughfare at 3:00pm. When the Checkstops were closed early into rush hour, it was too late as thousands of motorists entered traffic hell.
I’m not sure how many drunk drivers were taken off our roads, but I question the timing and locations of these Checkstops. I’m all for pulling drunk drivers off the road, but not at the expense of grinding our road network to a halt. Maybe they should try setting up numerous smaller scale Checkstops at Parkade exits and rotate them. A team of 4 officers per parkade would be able to check vehicles without adding much delay for motorists. Just a thought!
In what could be one of the biggest mistakes by a police force, the RCMP confirmed that they will no longer chase suspects fleeing in stolen vehicles in Alberta. The new pursuit policy has been in place for at least two months already, but it has not been made public until now. Now, I’m not saying the policy is a mistake but publically disclosing it is. Why did the RCMP reveal their hand? It would have been perfectly fine to adopt this new policy while keeping it under wraps.
With this new knowledge of the RCMP’s vehicle pursuit policy, car thieves may now feel they can take a car for a quick joyride without fear of being pursued on the rural highways or in smaller towns where the RCMP patrol.
“Our new policy now discourages pursuing a stolen vehicle, just for the sole purpose that it’s stolen,” he said, adding the new policy won’t give drivers of stolen cars a free pass.
“Obviously if somebody is in a stolen vehicle and is impaired or has been involved in other criminal activity, then there’s no strict prohibition from engaging or not engaging, there’s all kinds of factors that will come into play.
“All pursuit policies have a balance or risk assessment portion so our members can have the policies and tools in place so they can judge if something is getting way too risky, as far as public safety goes, for the benefits of criminal apprehension.”
When I first read this I did a little poking around and found that there were many cases of RCMP police chases ending badly in BC but not so many in Alberta. Perhaps it is because the RCMP patrols in the Greater Vancouver Area. I wonder why the RCMP chose Alberta as the testing grounds for this new vehicle pursuit policy?
The Calgary Police Service has a similar pursuit policy but they also have the advantage of patrolling a much smaller area. Oh, and they also have two helicopters that can be called in to assist in a pursuit if it is available. The RCMP will be evaluating the success of the new pursuit policy and if successful will be deploying it in other regions.
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