LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh discusses upcoming rules regarding photo radar in Alberta. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

New photo radar rules will make roads less safe, says LPS chief

Dec 3, 2024 | 12:27 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Chief of the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) was not impressed by this week’s announcement that Alberta’s photo radar system will be changing.

Shahin Mehdizadeh says the roads will become less safe, and this might not result in the kind of financial savings some people think it would.

Starting in April 2025, the Government of Alberta declared that there will be no ticketing on numbered provincial highways, intersection safety devices will only be able to be used for red light enforcement, and up to 70 per cent of existing photo radar sites will be removed.

READ MORE: Alberta ending ‘photo radar cash cow’

Mehdizadeh says photo radar is not a “cash cow” in places like Lethbridge as the revenues do not go to the police service.

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“They go directly to the city,” explains Mehdizadeh. “As you know, with any traffic enforcement and revenues that are collected, usually there is a split between the portion going to the province and [the] portion going to the municipality, and from there, it’s directed wherever they need to. In Lethbridge, all the money that’s collected goes towards more traffic safety initiatives.”

In 2023, approximately $2.43 million was generated from photo radar in Lethbridge, down 12 per cent from 2022 and down by 53 per cent from 2021.

“That shows that speeds were reducing, and actually, less people were speeding to get the tickets,” Mehdizadeh says. “This is actually clear evidence that these devices are actually doing the work that they’re designed to do, reducing speed and keeping our citizens safer on the street.”

The province will review every photo radar location in Alberta over the next four months and will remove those that are deemed ineffective or are not near school, playground or construction zones.

The rationale from Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen was to focus on public safety, but Mehdizadeh believes it will do the opposite.

“We have very clear evidence, and, you know, the chiefs of the larger cities, they have provided much more compelling evidence in their problem areas and how, over the years, they’ve been able to minimize collisions, fatalities and injury collisions. But in Lethbridge, we are also seeing the same thing, obviously on a smaller scale.”

The police chief says photo radar is a very useful tool for traffic enforcement and allows the service to focus more on other priority matters.

He told media that the LPS traffic safety team is already stretched as far as it can go, and having to divert more of his officers towards traffic enforcement means they will have to cut back elsewhere.

Mehdizadeh says it would be more consequential for drivers to be pulled over by a police officer than to receive a ticket from photo radar, as officers can issue demerits that can affect your driving status and even increase your insurance premiums.

While attending town hall meetings and speaking with residents, a common theme Mehdizadeh says he has heard from the community is a desire for more traffic enforcement through the use of photo radar.

Another point of frustration for Mehdizadeh is that there were no real consultations with law enforcement agencies before the provincial government announced the photo radar changes.

Instead, he was part of a meeting where the government informed those in attendance of the changes that they had already decided on.

At the end of the day, Mehdizadeh says speeding is a choice and those who choose to do it should face consequences.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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