Nearly half the tickets issued through the city’s red light camera program last year involved a single intersection – Wyndham Street South at Wellington Street East.
In all, the program saw 3,580 tickets mailed out to vehicle owners for running red lights at select intersections during 2022 – the first full year of the program’s operation – resulting in $284,885 in revenue, show details released by city officials.
Collected dollars are put toward the cost of the program, as well as other road safety initiatives.
Of the six red light camera locations in Guelph, by far the most active is the intersection of Wyndham Street South and Wellington Street East. That spot saw 1,566 tickets issued, with the busiest month being last June (222 tickets issued).
"Running a red light is more likely to cause significant injury than any other type of collision," explains a post on the city’s website. "Red light cameras help decrease the severity of injuries from collisions by reducing right-angle collisions and cars running red lights."
Details about the impact red light cameras have had on collision frequency and severity aren’t available at this time.
The other locations for red light cameras are:
- Scottsdale Drive at Stone Road West (576 tickets issued)
- Eramosa Road at Stevenson Street North (484)
- Clair Road at Gordon Street (441)
- Speedvale Avenue West at Dawson Road (273)
- Imperial Road at Willow Road (240).
The fine for running a red light is $325. In the case of violations captured by red light cameras, no demerit points are attributed, as the fine goes to the registered vehicle owner no matter who is driving at the time of the infraction.
City officials were unable to provide information about the number of potential ticket recipients whose licence plates were obscured at the time of offence.
"A red light camera ticket is not issued until a provincial offenses officer reviews the footage and determines that all criteria have been met to lay a charge (e.g., no obstructions due to weather, license plate accessories, etc) therefore there is no way to code out the number of tickets that were not issued by offense type," Liraz Fridman, road safety supervisor for the city, said in an email to GuelphToday. "Although license plate obstructions do occur for a number of different reasons … people driving are responsible for ensuring that their license plates are clearly visible and obscured plates can result in fines and penalties."
On a related note, the city will soon install a series of speed enforcement cameras. The initial batch, set to begin on Aug. 1, at the following spots:
- Westwood Road, in front of Westwood Road Public School
- Colonial Drive, in front of St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School
- Metcalfe Street, in front of King George Public School
- Ironwood Drive, in front of Fred A. Hamilton Public School
The devices, which send speeding tickets via mail to registered vehicle owners, are to be moved around the city every three months, with a focus on designated community safety zones near schools.
"Vehicles exceeding posted speed limits will lead to a ticket being issued, with fines based on the vehicle’s speed," explains a post on the city’s website. "The ticket will be issued to the owner of the vehicle regardless of who was driving the vehicle at the time the violation was recorded."
Additional locations where speed enforcement cameras are to be used are:
- Taylor Evans Public School at Stephanie Drive
- Cornerstone Christian School at Forest Street
- John McCrae Public School at Water Street
- St. Joseph Catholic School at Guelph Street
- St. Paul Catholic School at Clairfields Drive East
- Victory Public School at Exhibition Street
- Ecole Guelph Lake Public School at Severn Drive
- Brant Avenue Public School at Brant Avenue
- Ecole Arbour Vista Public School at McCann Street
- William C. Winegard Public School at Lee Street
- Central Public School at Dublin Street North
- June Avenue Public School at June Avenue.
