The City of Winnipeg is engaged in a deliberate and dangerous campaign to induce photo-enforcement violations and siphon your hard earned $$$
WiseUpWinnipeg has uncovered devious and predatory tactics intended to reduce your driving awareness and increase violations. It’s supposed to be about SAFETY! The City of Winnipeg photo enforcement program is required by provincial Conditions of Authority to reduce collisions and injuries by deterring red light running and excessive speeding. But….contrary to City of Winnipeg claims of achieving that primary goal, MPIC data reveals that photo-enforcement has dramatically INCREASED collisions.
Adjusting amber lights “would ruin the photo-enforcement program.”
-WPS Traffic Sgt. Jon Butcher. Mr. Butcher is now VP of ACS Canada.
It’s time to end this abuse of power! It’s time to ACT! WiseUpWinnipeg is Taking it to the Streets!
What are we advocating for?
Simply this…make amber light times adequate for the intersection. Sign roads properly and stop enforcement-targeting of stretches that are not. Maintain the photo-enforcement program for true red light runners and speeders.
What is our mission?
To publicly expose the deception within the photo enforcement program and to draw attention to Winnipeg’s traffic infrastructure inadequacies (including amber times, speed limits and signage) that are being deliberately exploited by the program to generate maximum “violations” from otherwise safe driving behaviours.
Join us by standing up and telling our elected officials that we will no longer tolerate the deception and abuse! Demand that this illicit program be suspended immediately and that legitimate safety improvements be implemented!
Your voice can be heard, your actions will make a difference.
Hello
i hope to be a full member of this site. Finally somebody thinks right here in ‘peg.
Legal robbery that’s what going on here. Good luck you got my full support,
Alex Takacs 204-219-8995 alextakax@hotmail.com
It’s time for somebody to speak up against double standards of the city of Winnipeg.
Most tickets are nothing else than a cash grab….. they have nothing to do with safety
or improvements they are just a money grab by the city is a legalized stealing from us
ordinary citizens….. enough already of all the temporary signs don’t turn here or there,
regardless if it is day or night….. that’s really stupid!!!!!
I would also like to become a full member of your organization. The guise of doing all these for safety is just another way for a tax grab. They will not share all the results of the cameras by location. They are also predatory in their locatioon of signs etc.Good work keep it up.
This whole red light, radar, too-short-amber fiasco is a CROCK…!! Winnipeg is chock full of speeders who could care LESS about WHAT AN AMBER LIGHT MEANS. The results are in from radar along Bishop Grandin and to no surprise to me at least, the speeders are winning…! You keep blathering on about a scam, unfair entrapment, false safety issues, when in reality these same tactica are used by speeders and those that get caught and want to raise some hell over it. Its a loads of BS that the times for ambers are too short. What about BEFORE red light cameras came along…? If you are following too close as to rear-end the guy who stops too quick, then you are following TOO DAMN CLOSE…OR…as is the most prbable case…YOU ARE SPEEDING…plain and simple. Stop whining and just DO THE FRIKKIN SPEED LIMIT…!!!!!!!!!
I think this comment needs some data behind it to give it some context. Now, since it came up, lets look at Bishop Grandin. First of all, the WPS’s favourite spot is the Hydro station just west of Pembina. Bishop at this point could easily be thought to be or be 90 at this point (from 200m east of Waverley to 200m west of River). There are no intersections, sidewalks or parking along this stretch and it’s outside of the 80 km/h buffer required 200m each way from a signalized intersection. Speed limits go as high as 100 at other overpasses such as McPhillips and the north Perimieter which is no different then the Bishop/Pembina overpass. There are 90 zones in the city such as pipeline road which is signed at 90 even inside the city and it’s just a small road with at grade intersections. Both the south perimeter and Lagimodiere are 100 at the overpass and that is also within city limits. Now, going with the speed limit of 80 for Bishop, lets look at the signs. They are 60x75cm-minimum sized and are way higher and farther off the road (up on the light poles) then the standards manual allows. Outside the city limits (perimeter for starters), the highways dept uses 90x120cm signs on their own posts right at the edge of the highway and at proper height (2.1m). The highways dept is also using high intensity reflectivity (about twice as bright at night-see Dugald/East Perimeter for example) while we have yet to find one installed in the city including on Bishop Grandin. All city speed signs so far appear to be only engineer grade-minimum requirements. In regards to ambers, they have been inadequate for many years although it’s worse now for two reasons. 1-cameras issue a ticket at 0.1 sec over the red when the naked eye wouldn’t even be able to detect it. 2-The inadequate lights have been SHORTENED at many locations after the cameras came. The amber at Grant/Pembian used to be 4.5 sec long before the camera came in at which point it got dropped to 4.0.
Predatory? The yellow at Keewaitin and Selkirk. Nailed twice ($400). I go through other enforcement camera intersections and have never gotten a ticket. I am not a speeder, keep my eyes on the road. Went to the cops, the guy said “It’s not worth your time and expense to fight it, just pay it”. It’s like the Mafia!
Hey, why not slow down? Save money on gas and tickets!
Fact is photo radar is a revenue generator for the city of Winnipeg which Sam Katz uses in order to not raise taxes in other areas and can hide behind the excuse that it makes the roads safer…it doesnt. Until the people of Winnipeg smarten up and demand a change there is no reason for this cash cow to end. I drove in Vancouver for 17 years and did not recieve a single speeding ticket in that time, however, within one year of living in Winnipeg I have recieved 4 speeding tickets all from photo radar and all 10-12 km/hr over the speed limit…give me a break Winnipeg.
Hi everyone, I could use people’s help and experience with portable photo radar…
First of all i’d like to say I am very happy to see so many people that aren’t willing to just “bend over” and let this greedy ca$h grab get away without a fight. I do agree that speeding is speeding and is breaking the law, but this photo enforcement is about money not safety. I have a question for anyone willing to help me… I was driving my wife’s car yesterday (an American bought car with mph) in st. vital down a street i honestly don’t think i’ve ever been down before. I was doing about 40mph which i guess is a little over 60kmh when i saw a flash out of a parked minivan. Until then i didn’t notice a school or anything as i was unfamiliar with the street. DO i have any hope of fighting this so as to pay less than the actual ticket? IT upsets me because i shouldn’t be speeding, BUT this “school zone” was at 8:30pm on a friday night in the middle of summer!!! I’ve NEVER had a photo ticket every before. Given these circumstances is there Any hope for me or what? Thanks everyone!
Hey all, I’m back. New research just in. Out of 128 cars spotted going through the lights at Portage and Smith, 68 ran the yellow at a high rate of speed, 28 ran the red, and the rest were caught IN the intersection when the amber turned red…!!! Also, there were 18 vehicles that were denied the right to vacate the middle of the intersection while waiting to turn North onto Smith because of speeding drivers gunning for the last bit of amber…!!
Its all about that BIG FAT LEAD FOOT people…NOT the cameras…there aren’t ANY at this intersection…!!!
LT
Vancouver had to throw out the photo radar because when they mail you a ticket it’s not being legally “served” to you. Unfortunately I drive a company vehicle and my employer makes me pay the ticket, but if you just don’t pay it they cannot collect it.
I plan to go to court for the last one I got and tell them I was never served and that I will not be paying it. I will send it my request to plead not guilty by mail so they cannot server me when I go to the court house.
Hey Chris, thank you very much for your informative presentation at our work place this week. Keep up the hard work
What brand are the winnipeg cameras?
Hello. Once again, another full supporter. I am a safe driver, very aware, and tickets need to be given to the REAL speeders. This is the biggest scam, and is actually driving me closer and closer to leaving. The people that sit in these Photo vehicles must wake up in the morning feeling like they’ve let themselves down. Just the other day I saw one on Corydon. He was about to give someone a $300 ticket just a couple weeks before Christmas. I have something to say about that. I came to a complete stop right beside him, and flipped him off for a good 5 seconds. Then he tried to scare me by flashing me after I had picked up speed and continued driving down the road. Anyone that steps foot in oneof these photo enforcing vehicles should be previously told about how much of a low life motherfuc*er they are.
They are ACS or Affiliated Computer Services out of Houston Texas.
HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!! I believe I was a victim of the Grant Ave. CAMERA TRAP. I was recently driving down grant ( I actually live on Grant) and was Flashed by the camera that sits on the north side service road. It is a school zone I damn well know I am not to speed and I wasn’t. The camera car flashed me twice on two seperate occasions. I recieved my tickets soon after and of course thought nothing of it and paid them. I was very angry at the fact that I recieved these tickets seeing as i have never recieved a ticket from a camera or a trap. Then I discovered that in the paper on Saturday Dec. 10th some teachers have been trapped as well. This injustice is unfair and I want my money back for the OFFENSE I DID NOT COMMIT. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!
try the radar on the 101 and portage ave; i go by there every day it shows me doing 80 kl. and i am doing 60 ; try it 3 times it is not right half the time every one going there knows it
LAURIE TAITE.
Are you some 80 year old women who knows how to use the Internet? Because im gonna sure as hell bet you drive like one. As far as I’m concerned, speeding is not the full issue here. It’s drivers who don’t know how to properly use/operate/maneuver a motor vehicle on the road. Eg, people who get to a yield and think that it says “stop” for some reason, People who text in bumper to bumper traffic, people who drive 50 in an 80, or people who are just fucking slow. I wouldn’t say every speeding ticket is a cash grab, however, the truth is, a majority of them are. I swore pretty damn well at a photo enforcing prick who decided to stop by mcdonalds the other day. If you wanna become one then you’ll have to deal with me too…oh, and about 90% of Winnipeg too. Do me a favor “Laurie Taite”, stay the hell outta my way.
This is all so true and a very sensible cause. Another issue is the speed limit on Pembina Highway through St. Norbert south to the city limits.
50 km/hr through St. Norbert, then 60 km/hr in basically a rural area, then 90 km/ hr for about a km before 100 km/hr to Morris.
People are getting tickets there steadily whenever they set up a radar station. It certainly gives a sour taste to everyone coming to and leaving from Winnipeg. You gotta wonder what the authorities are thinking in this case. Limits should be 60, 70 and 100 respectively.
Just read the article regarding Grant and Nathaniel which is where I recieved my ticket. I had just turned right onto Grant (was at the Royal Bank) and began to head westbound toward home. The ticket I recieved stated I was going 66km which is impossible. I drive a 4cyl vehicle and I’d have to floor it to get upt to that speed by the point they indicate I was speeding. Pleaded not guilty and now have a January court date.
What about those cops on Plessis Rd.? If the city did something about the trains maybe people would slow down. Both rush hours every day for the last two months mixed with a cop hiding in the bush really helps pay for an overpriced chopper I guess?
The same thing happened to me on Nathaniel and Grant. The ticket I received said I was doing 66 in a 50. I drive there all the time and there is no way I was doing that speed. I just paid the ticket feeling like I had no choice – my word against theirs! Now I feel duped as so many others do!
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/01/25/17025646.html
Much like Grant Avenue tickets. No wonder police want to stick to their story the machines are precise. The whole program would be tossed and refunds required.
I would like to know how I get involved to solve this injustice, I received a speeding ticket in the mail and I think it was from an improper set camera as I have had a clean driving record for the last 20 years and I get tagged for 16 over? i think the red light cameras and electronic speed traps are nothing but a cash cow for a city who is to cheap to put more cops on the street
I would like to join thus group as I supposely got my first photo ticket today! Grant of all places! I wanna fight with the teachers and everyone else!
Well, I haven’t been tagged with a photo ticket yet, knock on wood, but I would like to join this forum too.
I have not yet received a photo flash while going through any intersection in Winnipeg, but, find them to be very anoying, would like to join your group
i also got a ticket at Grant & Nathanial this past month….Ticket said I was doing 66,,No way I was going that fast….evryone who got a ticket there should hit the courthouse at the same time.
WE GOT CAUGHT TWICE DURING CONSTRUCTION ON BISHOP GRANDIN; SATURDAYS WITH NO-ONE WORKING. THIS SUMMER GOT CAUGHT ON BISHOP NEAR THE HYDRO STATION. JUST RECEIVED ANOTHER ONE TODAY – 64KMH IN A 50KMH ZONE STAFFORD AROUND KINGSWAY. I’M GETTING SCARED TO EVEN BE ON THE ROADS. BY THE TIME YOU GET THE TICKETS YOU DON’T REMEMBER IF THEIR WERE ANY EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES. I’M NOT A SPEEDER- ON THE HIGHWAYS IN A 100 KMH ZONE I GO 100 NO MORE NO LESS. HOW DO WE KNOW WHETHER WE HAVE ANY GROUNDS TO FIGHT ANY OF THESE TICKETS.
Stafford is a photo radar hotspot. Assuming you were going NB, you should state that the speed limit is not well signed. It is 50 unless otherwise posted, but the city does have some 50 signs and they always seem to be on roads without enforcement. The city has signed WB Taylor leaving Pembina, so there is no reason why Stafford shouldn’t be signed as well since it is the busier road. If you were going SB, you should argue that there should be a sign on Stafford since it is the busier road and they have signed Wellington Crescent. Neither Taylor or Wellington have photo radar, so that is why they are signed. It is hard at times to tell poorly signed 60+ zones from unsigned 50 zones. Pembina has no sign right from just south of Jubilee to almost Plaza; a distance of 2.6 km. Bishop Grandin has no 80 sign on EB east of Dakota. So, following the city’s rule, you should be going 50 on Pembina Hwy if you came off McGillvray or 50 on Bishop Grandin if you came off Dakota. With such poor signing, at some point you end up just going with the flow of traffic. It’s also illegal to travel in the right lane at a speed less then the limit so your in the wrong no matter what you do. It’s always worthwhile to fight. There’s always a chance they drop it or the photo radar operator doesn’t show which is a win before it even gets to trial. Your ticket will not go up, and you have nothing to lose by trying.
I have a quick question, I was driving at 48 by the unmarked photo radar on Grant St. and about 300 Feet I sped up to about 58-60, Does anyone know how far these radars can get you at, and wether the radar is only a diagonal beam showing the speed of the person travelling beside the car?
Please answer, this is important.
We have the same stupid issue going on in Royalwood. Shorehill Drive has Photo Radar everyday, a couple of times a day, and the city refuses to post a speed limit. The entire St. Vital area is 60Km but they nail everyone driving over 50Km on our street. I have contacted the city to suggest having signage available to remind people to slow down for the safety of our children. One year later nothing has been posted yet.
Someone has to take a stand..
I’m very familier with that location. Going off of Bishop Grandin (80 km/h zone), there are 6 exits that have a speed limit of 50 km/h. They are:
1 – River Rd NB (North-Bound)
2 – River Rd SB
3 – Shorehill SB
4 – Lakewood NB
5 – Lake Crest SB
6 – Seigneurie SB
Locations, 1, 2 & 4 are signed as 50 km/h and 3, 5 & 6 are not. As you can guess, the three that are signed do not have photo radar and the three that are not signed do have photo radar. For the city to avoid signing the ones that have photo radar, they have in turn not signed the ones that have school or playground zones since those are the only zones photo radar is allowed to enforce in. I addressed this issue with them last July and to date, no signs have gone up.
Clearly safety is second when it comes to enforcement of any traffic law. Even 1/2 of a turn signal light being out will run ya $171.00! The turn signal still works, and anyone would be able to see the headlights running, but then where would the money go to buy them fancy new tasers to murder more drunk people with. Clearly the cops wont waste their time talking to you now a days. The double standard of them being able to drive and chat on the phone while the rest of us get a nice $200 fine is not the only thing. What happened to the good cops? You know, the ones with common sense? Now they are just doin their job, be it in a van “preventing” speeding (wasting our tax dollars), or pulling people over for not having one of six lights on in the front. The robberies and murders are clearly not as important as catching us folk who are the real criminals. It doesn’t matter that a drunk is driving, just as long as they pay that ticket the van sends out.
And the Winnipeg police tell everyone that the cameras are right. People need to slow down. HA. Just payin for that chopper. Wow, isn’t that a way to be “building relationships”. Absolutely pathetic. This makes me sick.
I just received a speeding ticket (photo radar) going west-bound on “Grant Ave west of Nathaniel”.
It clocked my vehicle at 63km/h in a 50 zone.
I have serious doubts that I was going that fast.
I have seen articles post by people with Wise Up written above it. Wise Up about what. The only ones on here that complain about getting tickets and what not by the city police or by cameras are those that are speeding. Unless you are new to this city or where you got clocked by the camera is a new area to you and you just didn’t know the limit you really have no reason to complain. I never drive but know the speed limits in my areas so you have not a reason to complain if you frequent the areas you got caught. I hear people say I doubt I was going that fast or signs aren’t post properly. You have taken that route before so you know the limit and watch your spedometer once in awhlie. If you get clocked and get a ticket pay it and pay more attention to your speed while driveing and stop making excuses. It is your own darn fault so pay the price.
I also got a ticket at Grant and Nathaniel going 66 km/hr….if I had known sooner that there would be a “joint ” action taking place I would have fought the ticket – it was due Dec 22 so I paid it – doubt I was going that speed…….doesn’t it seem very strange that so many of these tickets are for 66 km ?????
Has anyone else experienced the speed trap on Dugald road near the Transcona Country Club? At the perimeter, the speed is 80, slows down to 70 where there are some houses along the highway, and then even though the road opens up to 2 lanes, the speed limit drops to 50 around the Country Club, and then back up to 70 to Lagimodiere. 50??? Why?? And the signage is terrible, a little crooked sign in the ditch.
I was caught speeding here a couple of months ago. The cops really abuse there authority. I will never go down Pembina, St Norbert again. I intentionally use St.Mary’s to get out of the city now. Yes the speed limit is only 90km but it really takes the same amount of time. I get back onto Hwy 75 via St Adolphe. I hope St Norbert will lose buisness over this situation and perhaps take a stand to our Wpg Police.
It’s absolutely amazing how horrific driving in Winnipeg is. It’s almost like a police state in the city for sure and in the province in general. The speed limits are much too low in general. 75 South of St. Norbert should actually be on International News for how blatant that speed trap is. 60 km/h on a divided 4 lane hwy where there are no more intersecting roads ahead??! It’s CRIMINAL and an absolute embarrassment. I grew up there, lived in BC, California and now Chicago. By FAR, Winnipeg is actually the worst place to drive. I feel sorry for all of the folks who actually think these rules are helping things there. The rest of the world is moving along safely at a much higher rate of speed. Winnipeg and the province, continue to plod along slowly…. ignorance is bliss I guess. Must be nice living in a place that doesn’t welcome visitors with speed traps expressly made for them, and be in a town where you are afraid for the police hiding behind every bush. I could go on and on. Wake up Manitobans. BC did and threw the whole lot out. Make the red light cameras just for red light running, not speed. Eliminate photo radar vans. Let the police pull you over if there’s a real worthwhile reason. I wonder how many citations are issued since photo units versus before. I bet it QUADRUPLE. All you’re doing is sending in the cheques. Enjoy.
Has anyone noticed everyone talking about the light at Grant have all been doing 66 kmh?
Go to facebook and click “like” on the Warn a Brotha page to receive and post speed trap locations within the city of Winnipeg. Winnipegers helping Winnipegers…….. Good job wiseupwinnipeg.com
I find it amusing that so many people are complaining of tickets on Grant and feel there is a problem. I would suggest the real problem is that many people follow a rule of driving at 10% over the speed limits and think that the speed limit on Grant is 60kph. Funny how none of these drivers appear to be aware of the speed they were traveling at. Try paying attention to your speed and you will discover 1. how quickly you can get up to speeds over 60 KPH. 2. That often the traffic is often traveling over the speed limit. 3. That many drivers are paying more attention to their phone, music or other things inside their car than with the task at hand of driving their automobile.
Just slow down people and you won’t get a ticket.
To Evan C you mentioned you sped up after passing the photo radar. What is your hurry? You will eventually get a ticket as you obivously speed when you feel you will not be caught.
Photo enforcement cameras are a tax on the stupid. If you are stupid enough to speed or run a red light then pay the tax. You can choose not to drive over the speed limit and save some money and make our raods safer or drive whatever speed you want but stop complaining when you get a ticket.
More like, WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE , you know its there but you keep pushing the gas and never once put the brakes on the goverment. cash grab yeah, it sure is but on the other side of it what about the other stupid crap with driving. And you people know what i mean, no turn signil or driving slow in the left lane the list go’s on, improper use of a car period, if you live here then you should know. The city should crack down on the way some people drive or should i say lack of driving. its about wising up right. as long as the people of this province and city keep putting in the same people to run it. but that would mean that only the ones who are getting those tickets are the ones who never voted them in i guess, or we would have a real system that was fair and true. what i can say is stopping on a yellow was not in the road test. This city is trying to be like other citys. the way it spends its money, sorry our money, on things like putting in bike lanes on the left side of the road with out changeing the traffic act first tells me the city awswers to no one. It can do what it likes with out your say winnipeg. Theres so much to be said about this city, more bad then good lately.So SUCK IT UP people get in line with everyone else.Change is needed and this is the platfrom to start it.
I will be going to court in a week and a half to fight an intersection violation. I received the photo-radar ticket and not only couldn’t make out the license number, couldn’t read the province on the plate or the make of the vehicle. It didn’t even offer up the exact intersection location. The color photo they sent me wasn’t any better. If they want to seperate me from my hard earned money, they’re going to have to do a better job with their quality control. I wasn’t even in town on the night of the supposed infraction. Also, haven’t the police got better things to do, like fight crime. My neighbor called in a domestic dispute and they called back 45 minutes later asking if they still required police presence. I call in some valdelism in progress and they said it would be an hour and a half before they could respond.
I am new to Winnipeg and I have never seen anything like it! This city is obsessed with traffic violations and have set up the system in such a way that drivers are always at a disadvantage.
Speed limits are inconsistently posted and change rapidly (3 different speed limits within approx 1.5 Km on Keneston)
Police officers then wait at the speed limit sign to “nab” you.
The fine rates are well above other municipalities.
Traffic light changes are inconsistent and basically a crap shoot anytime you go through an intersection.
Ontario abandoned the cash-grab photo radar for good reason.
Considering we have a murder problem, maybe that’s where we should put our efforts.
Additionally, maybe we could do a little education on how to merge into traffic and teach pedestrians to look before crossing at flashing crosswalks. There is actually a “point of no return” for a driver regardless of when you hit the crosswalk button.
There is an easy solution to 99% of the issues posted here, stop breaking the law and complaining that you got caught. Take some responsibility for your actions.
same thing on provencher blvd, no speed limit signs, but the cops sit by the nicolet hotel, and nab people doing 60 in a 50 zone. The only speed limit sign is all the way down close to the bridge. You need one of your signs there, because marion is 60, goulet is 60 and archibald is 60, so people automatically figure that provencher is 60, no signs saying otherwise. Anytime the weather is nice you’ll see them there.
How it is ever so nice of the City thinking about our safety especially our conditions in winter…..NOT.
Inconsiderate people like to make money off people having to slam there breaks going ex in a 60 zone and the light turning red in a matter of seconds. Not knowing if the guy in front of you will run the yellow to prevent an accident or not. Either way no one seems to consider this let alone fixing anything around Wpg that is safety related. So i mean really, go ahead and think of yourselves as this may be a wake up call one day when someone you know ends up really hurt over this.
Thanks
I have been robbed by this city in the past and the last ticket I received I fought in court and won but this area is still a danger to all motorists. I’m talking about the Salter Bridge, there are no speed limit signs anywhere up and down Salter/Balmoral/Isabel/Colony/Osborne etc etc. I have been driving 60km/h on this street everyday for a year and I drive through many radar-photo intersections never once receiving a ticket but suddenly when I am on top of the Salter Bridge the police nab me and say this is a 50km/h zone. Everyday they sit at one end or the other with speed traps and there is NO SPEED LIMIT SIGN. I am hoping to bring this to the attention of WiseUp Winnipeg if it hasn’t been brought to their attention already. Thank you.
We live in the northwest part of the city, G.C. and naturally unfamaliar with the speed zone south of St Norbert, however my son who was driving to G.F. with his Mom Dec 7/11 received a speading ticket in the cash grab area noted in this weeks media South of St. Norbert and we made a $444.00 donation as a result of the ticket to the cash strapped city of winnipeg !!!!!! You would think city hall has received enough tax dollars from the booming real estate business this past year!!! Considering we are the Murder Capital of Canada once again the priorties of this city’s police department & city hall should be in this area of responsibilities and not to place the increase in Police staffing in enforcing speeding, as a cash grab!!
FYI, another photo radar cash grab is on Salter between Jefferson & Leila, north of Edmund Partridge School, yes everyone slows down in a school zone however once you pass the school zone you enter a playground zone which is not posted as such and guess what, yes photo radar sitting in an unmarked car!!!!
So much inconsistency in the City of Winnipeg regarding speed limits and signage. It’s corruption, all of it.
The worst part is fining people who travel on Highway 75 who have done NOTHING to deserve their ticket. Driving 70 in that ridiculous 60 zone south of St. Norbert isn’t a hazard to anyone.
It’s time to Wise Up Winnipeg indeed. It’s time for City leadership to get over themselves.
I was recently in Calgary and in a cab. Not only do they not make you drive in a Prius piece of crap like they do here, they dont have those shields or white “help me” strobes on the roof. Instead of traffic cops (tax revenue clerks) why dont they put more cops out on walking beats to make Winnipeg safer? Imagine what the new Jets players and other teams think of our city when they see a Prius with a shield for the driver? Could they or would they walk downtown? The City just cares about taxing law abiding citizens instead of the scum this City needs to clean up.
I am going to court in March for a ticket I received at the Hwy 75 trap. I actually have a witness who will testify that I was not exceeding the speed limit, so how many others have been falsely accused? I was so glad to see the sign that was placed recently in the area by WiseUpWinnipeg. Common sense would dictate that the sign would encourage speeders to slow down. So why is it that the Police Dept chose to tear the sign down? Clearly, it is not a safety issue, it’s a money maker.
Having an Officer as a friend, I asked if there are ‘monthly quotas’ for distributed fines to meet a revenue figure to be generated from tickets. He merely smiled, and replied, “No, there are no quotas. They(undefined ‘they’) will notify you though if your tally of submitted tickets in the station drop box for the month is less than previous months.”
Think about it.
Hey Normand, those people are idiots and deserve their tickets. If there is no posted speed the speed limit is 50. If you don’t know even the most basic rules of road you shouldn’t be on it.
I say we start doing this. If you see a photoradar van in a spot where its legal to park, to pull over and park directly in front of the van. Just say you have to make some phone calls. If its in a legal spot they cant do a thing. I know a guy that did it and the waste of skin driving the van got all excited and threatened to call the police. He said go ahead
I see they moderate comments on this site that don’t agree with them. Pretty hypocritical.
Since I’m the only one who moderates the comments, I can tell you I’ve only not approved one comment that wasn’t span which I considered abusive and a personal attack. Since you want everything approved, I’ve put it up now with everything else I was behind on. Due to the 1600 comments that have so far been spam, I do get behind, but all real comments do go up eventually. I will state that I know the police deleate comments from their just slow down website that aren’t favourable to them. I’ve had many of my comments removed even though they were not attacking anyone and only stated facts. So really, if your suggesting we have a fair playing field, maybe I should stop approving commetns unfavourable to us.
I fully support wise up winnipeg! Please continue ypur great work. Vancouver has removed camera ticketers so why can’t we. Its citizens simply refused to pay these tickets.
Mark, Mark B. They moderate comments on this site for people like me. People who will flip their lid on people like you. Youand ‘Laurie Taite’ are the only people on this blog that disagree with everything. I’d like to see you pull that left turn off Nathaniel onto grant that day, drive the speed limit, get blasted with a 300 dollar ticket, then say you could of 99% avoided that. I strongly think you either work for MPI, or the Winnipeg Police. Read the WHOLE blog dude. People hate you.
Hey Creighton, you and the REST of this blog are just plain angry you got caught and belong to the same group of dolts that forget what the standard speed is in unmarked areas. It just proves you nitwits are too busy doing òther`things while driving to pay attention to the rules of the road.
Creighton thinks that the bulk of drivers think like he does and that the City of Winnipeg is out to “make some càsh`on poor hard working, unsuspecting Winnipeg drivers. You make monkeys look like Einsteins. Driving is a earned privaledge, and once you get your licence, you are SUPPOSED to remember MOST of the rules of the road. Speeding has become the norm in Winnipeg, with runnuing ambers a close second. All you panty waisted whiners are griping because the ambers are too short to get through an intersection before the radar camera gerts them. ALERT,ALERT…if you are speeding to begin with you DESERVE to get the ticket AND be rear-ended by the SPEEDIND dufus behind you…!
Every single day on the way to work, I get passed while I`m doin just over 60 down St. Annes toward downtown. Smart assed 20-30 something dames puttin on makeup, IMPORTANT business guys flappin their gums on cells, and red neck pickup drivers weaving in and out like Nascar. People think that once they are in their car, the road is THEIRS, to use as they see fit in completion of their IMPORTANT journey. Ice covered, wet, heavy snow, makes no difference to the lead foots. Get the F–K outa my way, I gotta get somewhere.
People may HATE Mark B. as you say Creighton, but I feel sorry for you. A dissolutioned, sad excus for a human being…with a licence to drive yet…scary….
Carl says the City of Winnipeg is obsessed with traffic violations. WRONG..! Drivers in the City of Winniopeg are obsessed with SPEEDING…! Carl also thinks education is neede for cross-walk people. I say DRIVERS need RE-education on the basics of understanding the speed laws in town. This isn`t frikkn rocket science people. No sign…50kph…easy. Or is that too hard a thing to remember while texting your buddy where the speed traps are…!!
There are getting to be way too many personal attacks on here. I suggest we should all set-up a meeting with each of us bringing the evidence we claim to have and see if we can come to some kind of conclusion. I will say right now that this site is not about trying to get speeders and agressive drivers off. This is about showing the issues with Winnipeg infrastructure that are getting people caught into doing 10-15 km/h over the limit and getting fined. I’m not defending people doing 20-30 km/h over the limit or agressive drivers. How can anyone argue that it’s okay for Winnipeg to have the shortest amber times in the country in high speed zones and be the only city that doesn’t dual sign speed reductions while still putting all the blame on the drivers?
As for the so called speed trap on the sound end of St Norbert, before i even lived in Winnipeg, I would drive my transport truck many times to, and from the the border, and I clearly was aware of the speed change! Now that i live in St Norbert I’m OK with it, anything to slow down the drivers so my kids don’t get ran over by someone driving to fast, and 60km is plenty fast enough. If you are that pressed for time, and can’t slow down to 60km then be prepared to pay the price!
You guys are starting to sound like kids, so I’m going to tell you what I tell them. If you don’t like the punishment then then think twice about the crime!
Here is a thought, leave 15min earlier, and enjoy a leisurely drive, and be stress free when you arrive at your destination!
Chris good job responding to these posts. Some of the posters make it obvious that they haven’t seen any of the content or they wouldn’t make comments such as “just pay your tickets” etc. Chris has done a review of City signing practices that will soon be made public which clealry reflects direct correlation between photo enforcement locations and those stretches most deficient in zoning and signing. That is not a coincidence. The massive majority of “speeding” tickets are to good drivers doing 63kph in stretches that should be 60kph to begin with – not 50kph. The “50kph unless otherwise posted” rule is nonsense – there are dozens of speed drops and they aren’t sufficiently posted. It is purely targeted, abusive enforcement that has zero to do with safety. Todd Dube
As a truck driver you should know the safety purpose for adhering to the 85th percentile method of establishing speed-limits (the city claims to, like all cities, however does not). Also be aware that we have saved truckers thousands of dollars by making them aware of the ridiculously limit there – as evidenced by their braking and honks of support. Are you even aware that St. Mary’s Rd parallel is a winding single-lane road that is 90kph? Or the donkey-path that connects the two over the Floodway is 70kph? Pipeline road is also 90 km/h and it’s just a gravel trail. Try and reconcile that and in the meantime – WiseUp and get on the right side of a situation that is obvious to all.
To be exact, there are 68 speed drops that fail to comply with standards.
Chris, let me set the scene here. Im driving down the road that has an upcomong photoradarlight. I’m doin 62 kph. I know because I glance at my speedo more than ONCE on any given trip. Here you are coming out of a side street as I pass by. You stomp on it and get up to a measley 75kph, and are slowly gaining on my rear bumper. The light ahead turns amber and I start to slow down to prepare to stop. The light chnages to red and I stop…BANG..!!! You pile into me and then cry to the City the amber was too short, and you were ONLY doing 15k over the posted limit. I hadn’t even NOTICED the Photo Radar sign as I was doing a quich check of my speed and fuel settings, so I did NOT have to slam on the brakes worrying about getting caught in a photo shot going through a red at 75kph…imagine that…! Meanwhile, you are pissed off at me for stopping too quick to avoid a photo ticket, when in FACT you were SPEEDING and following too close to have any reaction time available to you. PLEASE…tell us all what part of this scenerio doesn’t sit well with the “MAJORITY” of the posted blogs…? I have seen this scene so many times(most were near misses thank god), while going to work each day is amazing they were NOT rear enders. Common sense, legallity issues, and proper traffic flow are all issues that need attention in this debate. My only gripe through this whole mess is that Winnipeggers WILL NOT SLOW DOWN…PERIOD…BTW, if you are caught going 80-85 in the left lane on Bishop Grandin, going to the malls, please be aware that you have NO RIGHT to be going THAT SLOW in THAT lane…you will be immediately set upon by the hordes of bumper hangers that think THAT lane is for people to do any speed they like, and the rest of us 80kph slow asses should keep to the right. Just sayin.
Yes, that is all too common of a scene in Winnipeg. That is why we need those drivers to get pulled over by a real police officer and given a real ticket instead of whoever owns the vehicle getting a ticket mailed to them two weeks later. Almost all of those aggressive drivers that are doing insane speeds are fully aware of what they’re doing and slow down for the cameras. The program wouldn’t pay for itself going after just those people which is why we have the issues with ambers and signs that I’m trying to address. I’m not defending bad drivers, but here’s a couple of examples of people who I am defending and cases that have kept me motivated.
Speeding – Grandmother in East St. Paul phoned me because she had a ticket at Grant/Wilton for doing 63 in a 50. She wasn’t even sure where that was because she usually takes the perimeter to visit her grandson on Roblin, but this day went through the city. She said she rememberd coming off of Pembina and seeing the 60 sign but she had no idea where the speed reduced or where the camera was. She did recall driving beside a large truck for a short distance. She obviously didn’t see the reduction because her view was blocked by the truck and because Winnipeg is the only major city in Canada that doesn’t dual sign, she didn’t have the advantage of there being a sign on the median. She’s on a fixed income and $216 is going to leave quite a mark. The city knows how much money they will loose if they dual sign speed signs so that is why they continue to refuse to do it.
Red Light – Young girl I saw present her case in traffic court. She had a ticket from the camera at Grassie and Lagimodiere (80 zone) for running a red light 0.1 second into the red which isn’t even distinguishable by the human eye. Her story was that she turned onto the road from Springfield and started to speed up but realizing how icey the road was, she stayed at about 40-50 km/h. The snow plow was just ahead of here polishing up the ice. When the light changed, she tried to stop but couldn’t and slid through the intersection. The ticket stated that her speed was 12 km/h at the time she crossed the stop line. Had she not tried to stop, she would easily have not been ticketed. In the picture, everything around her car what white from the camera flash reflecting off the ice. The judge said that ice or no ice, we can’t have people running red lights even if it’s only 0.1 second into the red. Since Winnipeg uses a 4.0 second amber in 80 zones, she got here ticket during the time that if she were in any other Canadian city, the light would still be amber for another second. Almost all city’s are using 5.0-5.5 second ambers in 80 zones. Besides Winnipeg, the shortest I’ve found is Ottawa with 4.6.
These are the people I’m fighting for and the kinds of cases that represent the vast majority of photo enforcement tickets.
Laurie why don’t you watch the Must See Videos so you can understand the simple issue that short ambers are not only profitable but dangerous.
Chris & Todd, fair enough on those cases, but I would be interested to know what was going on BEFORE the photo cameras came in…? What were the amber times then…? Do you have stats on speeders from the city…? Why do we always have to have visual notification of what speed you are supposed to be doing…? I thought that the driver’s exam and course taught you that if no signs are around you do 50. I find it interesting how many people must get in their cars and drive to their destinations without EVER glancing at their gauges, because I see so many drivers in the thick of a heavy snowfall, rain or dark overcast day, and NO REAR LI\GHTS ON…! If they are not interested in beimg seen, they sure aren’t interested in how fast they are going. I totally agree with the ice covered road scenerio, BUT, I question wether a longer amber will cause people to slow down and OBEY the meaning of a amber light. I see it as just a LONGER green for most lead foots in this town.
This is a GREAT debate I must say. I have some very WEIRD opinions on it from nurses for example where I work. The discussions we have at work sometimes are right outa William Shatner’s “Weird…or What…!!!!
Laurie, should we just agree that we should all ride the bus, or maybe have sensors in the road that remote govern our vehicles to adhere to speed limits? I can guarantee within a day of that scenario happening, there would be a whole new act drawn up on pedestrian traffic laws and all the revenue generation means roaring to go. Maybe tickets for excessively worn shoes?
How far should we let it slide? Until Big Brother is in your single room living space? Perhaps we could all be assigned our own Personal Violations Officer complete with ticket dispenser to follow us throughout our day to hand us Daily Violation Fines. Where should it end?
As Chris stated, there are 68 speed drops that fail to comply with standards. By your logic though, WE should shut up and pay up follow the laws, while 68 locations in violation may exist without correction?
It is human to err, and we all can only walk on water when it’s frozen. Your preaching to everyone to shut up and stop making excuses is your accepting a corrupt system that is also targeting you as well. You’re verbally lashing out at everyone in such a violent matter that it obliterates your ability to review the data that indicates there may be something wrong with this system. Why is it wrong to suggest that the system is failing according to the data presented? Can it be possible that people may have noticed there is something wrong? Why should they be shouted down and called ‘panty wasted whiners’? That’s a lot of hostility there, too much for a commenter on a site trying to raise awareness that there may be possible corruption in a system. You’re not reasonably and logically making your argument, but simply alienating the group from yourself by lashing at everyone with social disapproval attacks.
You should stay away from the juvenile ad homonym attacks(re “You make monkeys look like Einsteins”. Really?), don’t generalize people as all being scam artists trying to avoid paying fines(you don’t know them personally nor their incidents), until you’ve done conclusive research into the claims and the data.
To answer your first question, before the cameras came in, the traffic division of the police was about twice the size and the issues of unfair enforcement in areas with poor signing was around then as well. From what I’ve heard from people, this city’s addiction to traffic ticket revenue dates back to 1994.
The amber timing used to be variable. I have the signal timing sheets that prove the amber light at Grant/Pembina was 4.5 seconds before the camera got put in and then was changed to 4.0 after the camera. The city has figuraed out what I’m doing with the timing sheets so it doesn’t look like I’m going to be getting anymore of them. The city is currently justifying using 4.0 second ambers in 80 zones because the province of Manitoba (MIT) uses that timeing at all of their intersections. The fact I’ve confrimed with MIT is that all of their signals in 80 km/h zones have advance warning flashers on approaches to warn people that the light is changing and that is basically an extended amber. The city refuses to use advance warning flashers in their 80 zones but still uses the shorter amber. Cameras in 80 zones issue 979 tickets per camera per year and cameras in 50-70 zones issue 164 tickets per camera per year. Unless all of our city’s red light runners only drive in the 80 zones, there is obviously and engineering problem.
I do not have statistics on how many speeding violations were in the city before the cameras. I didn’t even live in the city until 2005 and have only been involved in this since 2009. The arguement of how the city did it in the past is no indication of how we should be doing things into the future. If there wasn’t a problem with how we have been doing things, then we never would have needed the cameras to begin with. I’ve already indicated the to the city that there is no engineering manual in existence that discourages dual signing for speed limits and every other major Canadian city already dual signs. The city is now using the arguement that they won’t dual sign because it’s not their practice and it’s not their practice because it wasn’t their practice in the past. Sounds like the same logic coming out here.
The 50 unless otherwise posted is a good arguement on the surface. In reality, there are many roads where signs are missing but they have a speed higher then 60. The last speed sign on Pembina SB before the camera at Chevrier is at Jubilee. The next sign isn’t until close to plaza leaving a 2.6 km distance between signs. Should traffic coming off of McGillvray or any other road along there do 50 unless otherwise posted? If the higher speed zones would be properly signed, it would make the unposted 50 zones more noticable. Right now, with the lack of signing, Pembina looks no different then Provencher. We still should have 50 signs to remind people on the roads that appear like they should have a higher speed limit. The city has 110 selective 50 km/h signs that are used to give this reminder. The problem is that they don’t put them on the major roads with cameras. Why would Wellington Crescent have 50 km/h signs and Corydon doesn’t? Corydon is a major divided truck route but it also happens to have lots of photo radar so no signs.
To make my arguement solid, I also want to bring up speed reductions. Many many photo enforcement sites are on divided roads right after a speed reduction. The 50 unless otherwise posted rule never applies to speed reductions because they are on roads already posted at a higher speed. With such poor signing on roads like Pembina, you can’t even expect somebody who hasn’t seen the reduction to notice the lack of signs and realize they have entered an unsigned 50 km/h stretch. Every other major city dual signs its speed reductions for this reason. They also often dual sign in problem areas. Edmonton’s policy is to dual sign all roads with 3 or more lanes. That means that Pembina hwy, Portage Ave and Main street would all have the 60 signs dual signed due to the high lane counts. In reality, not even the speed reductions on Portage Ave and Main Street are dual signed for 4 lanes of through traffic. It’s impossible for median traffic to have a clear line of sight across 3 lanes of traffic. If the city truely believes that these sightlines are not obstructed and that traffic in the median lane can see through other vehicles, then why do we have dual signed curve signs, truck route signs, median ends signs, guide signs; every other sign in the traffic manual. Entrampment is the only explanation.
Whether or not a longer amber will help people will not be known until we try it. With the thousands of people running lights as it is, it’s obvious that what we’re doing isn’t working so what is there to loose other then ticket revenues? Why would Winnipeg be such an anomaly that the engineering standards accepted and used all across Canada and the US wouldn’t work here? If anything, we should have a longer amber times then other jurisdictions due to extreme weather conditions we have here (icey roads).
Still not convinced? Read these:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73441036/Basic-Winnipeg-Signing-and-Amber-Light-Issues
http://www.scribd.com/doc/72093314/Battle-at-Brookside
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73885742/Removal-of-Camera-Warning-Signs-on-Medians
Unanswered Letters to The City of Winnipeg:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78215871/Grant-Speed-Reduction-Letter
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78215755/Winnipeg-Public-Works-Missing-Speed-Signs
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73787509/Letter-to-City-of-Winnipeg-Main-Street-Speed-Reduction
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73787068/Letter-to-City-of-Winnipeg-Playground-Zone-Signs
Thanks for reading,
Chris sweryda
801-9239
Thank you for that response. If anyone doubts there are really 68 speed recuctions in Winnipeg that don’t meet standards, I know because I’ve measured all of them. Here are my results:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/72975833/Speed-Reduction-Signing-Chart
Conclusions:
The followign conclusions were made regarding speed limit signs at speed reductions.
Minimum Height: 2.0m Winniepg was as low as 0.7m
Maximum Height: 3.0m Winnipeg was as high as 4.8m
Maximum Distance off road: 3.0m Winnipeg was as far off as 11.0m
Minumum distance between speed drop ahead and speed sign: 100m Winnipeg was as low as 46m
Maximum distance between speed drop ahead and speed sign: 250m Winnipeg was as high as 347m
21 speed signs at reductions were missing and have been missing for more then 3 years.
Not a single City of Winnipeg speed reduction was dual signed on both sides of a divided road.
All speed reductions signed by the highways dept were dual signed.
As shown by the chart, most of the sites that have the worst signing are the most heavily enforced. It’s not a coincidence. By improperly signing before photo radar sites and because photo radar is only allowed in school and playground zones, the city has in reality improperly signed before children’s areas.
Well, I sure got put in my place by slavenewworld…! I’m not generalizing that ALL are being idiot drivers. I confess to being short tempered with the louts that are the main cause. Slavenewworld’s comments at me were very well written and have definatetively gobsmacked me…! I humbly bow to the intelligent rebuttal to my rants. I alone cannot remove nor even FINE the culprits that get my hackles up. I guess I am just so amazed at the amount of drivers that run yellows, especially in turning lanes when you are trying to clear the intersection. Maybe there IS some adjustments that are sorely needed in this town. I am in NO WAY taking sides nor agreeing with the twits(oops, there I go “generalizing” again), at City Hall or the Province on road traffic issues. From here on in, I shall refrain from calling anyone out, knocking down the drivers I don’t know OR their particular circumstances in relation to the radar camera issue. I know myself quite well at this age, and my hostility towards ignorant drivers has no boundaries sometimes…MANY times actually. And for this I again appologize to all involved in this forum and present debate.
I wish I could say that this problem will be fixed. I see City Hall as a VERY stubborn bunch that likes sneaky ways to get free cash, and will fight tooth and nail to keep the phto system in place. I HAVE received a photo radar ticket twice since the system came in. One was my own damn fault, the other was “kind of” questionable aas to “when” camera went off, so I am aware of the issues.
I think I just picked the wrong forum to lash out at stupid drivers. The work done here by Cris and Mark is above reproach IMHO. I think I should just shut the hell up and let cooler heads prevail on this matter.
Hi again all, I’m back…! I just got through reading/watching a slew of articles from Cris et all, and I have to say I am again humbled…!! I did not realize what a blabbermouth I was until now. Those drivers that get my goat are peanuts compared to the BS being tossed out by City Hall AND the WPS. As much as I admire the force with all the crap they have to deal with on a daily basis, I cannot fathom why they would pass the buck on some very “pointed” questions from Mr. Sweryda.
I think I have been “reborn” as it were. I know, I know, I sound like a turncoat to my own cause, but after all the stuff I read, I can honestly say I was shootin my mouth off before I new all the facts. Oh well, never too old to learn something new…right…? The fact is ALL of the info that Chris drew up is miles ahead of ANYTHING the City of Winnipeg has put out to show it’s side of the “Safety” issue that is behind the photo radar scam. I can’t believe Im saying all this…!! But hey, I got my eyes opened and my ears burned and now I have a much greater appreciation for the FACTS as presented by Chris.
Have I missed appologizing to anyone…?
Thank you. I will admit though that there are many inconsiderate and ignorant drivers out there. They tick me off to and in no way am I defending those people. There is no excuss for excessive speed, deliberately running lights or agressive driving in general and I will never try to defend those kind of people. Thanks again for reading my articles. People may not believe me on this but I will say that I have never recieved a traffic ticket in my 8 years of driving on almost a daily basis. That includes photo enforcement.
Frank Cullinane says:
January 16 2012
Worldwide rule makers and rule enforcers fail to cooperate or answer basic queries raised.
Local councils set speed limits, Road Safety Authority make rules and police enforce the rules.
Local councillors who do not have to be drivers but must consult before setting a speed limit but consent is not required.
It is my opinion that we must now deal with the issue of amber traffic lights and speed limits on a worldwide basis.
The R108 in Ireland is 48 kilometers long with 3 kilometres of one-way 50 km/h and 45 kilometres of 50 and 80 km/h speed limits.
The speed limit is enforced only on the 3 kilometre section of 50 km/h one-way road without speed limit or camera warning signs.
The amber traffic light is timed at 3 seconds in all speed limit areas in Ireland including the R108.
On drivingscorecard.com I posted a video on speed and traffic ights on the R108 but it was mainly ignored.
I am editing a new video and would like a 30 second video of speed enforcement on the 50 km/h area in Winnepeg.
This is a bigger issue much deeper rooted than just speed and amber traffic lights.
In 2004, 5 pedestrians died on the fotpath in Dublin, Ireland when struck by a bus in a 50 km/h area.
There were 3 investigations into the cause but for legal reasons the result will never be published.
My investigation discovered that An Garda Siochana (Police in Ireland) allowed a reaction time of 2.2 seconds in this case.
This conflicts with the .7 seconds reaction outlined by the Highway Code and Rules of the Road.
The source of the reaction time outlined by An Garda Siochana and the Road Safety Authority is the Transport Research Laboratory.
Cars are manufactured to a similar standard with acceleration to speed outlined in time.
Emergency stopping distance from a speed of 50 km/h alone is outlined from Ireland to Australia as 23 to 54 metres.
Emergecny stopping distances have remained unchanged since first outlined in the Highway Code in 1946 when cars had cable brakes.
I am ploughing a lone furrow in Ireland but based on the amount of information removed from the web it appears I am winning.
I recorded on VBOX the time and distance required to perform each driving task including stopping from each km/h.
I called the result The Drivnig ScoreCard System.
Would those in charge of road safety demonstrate stopping from 80 km/h in 3 seconds having allowed a reaction time of 2.2 seconds?
Lets deal with this on a worldwide basis.
Regards
Frank Cullinane
82 Glasnevin Park,
Dublin 11.
Ireland
If you watch the news video of the protest that took place at Grant park school, you will see that everyone of them were protesting their fines or where there to support the protest of the unfair ticketing were middle aged people, mature people, teachers, parents, and single mothers, who were all veteran drivers where the ones all fighting these tickets. Not a single one of them were hotrodders, and rule breakers. They were mature parents and teachers who all had the same story. Some were senior citizens. Now if 700 people all share the same story that all agree that they were not speeding when they went around the corner, and that they were obeying all the rules, then it is hands down a problem with the photo radar.
In a court of law, the 700 people would be called “witnesses” and you have 700 witnesses all with the same story vs 1 guy in a photo van who’s job is to literally make money for the city. Since I am a honest man, I am going to side with the 700 witnesses and say stop this cash cow now.
“We all hate the cameras at intersections . I slam on the binders if that light even thinks of changing to yellow. I could care less if the person following me is ready for my screeching halt, but I am not going thru that light…I sped up once and received a $190 ticket on Kenaston/Corydon. Going 63 in a 50..
Intersection cameras aside is one thing, but vans parked all day and night in a school zone regardless if school is in or out is ludicrous. Everyone pretty much obeys school zone speed as a rule. I don’t remember the last time a school kid was injured while walking to his school nearby. This is obviously the biggest scam of these cameras. I have seen him at 10pm on Grant during summer holidays.”
This comment of the Winnipeg Free Press site summarizes my frustration with the cameras. It is turning citizens against the law and that in itself is a grave mistake no government should make.
They never seem to set up these cameras when the school is in operation either. How strange?
Thanks Laurie. Your service has just begun – please spread the truth to others who for some reason ignore stated fact and propagate the myths repeated by the city about safety. There is no safety component to photo enforcement – and the abuses are many.
My wife received a ticket for turning right on a red? I didn’t even think that was possible. We go thru this intersection 10 times a day. She thought she came to a stop before turning right but the camera says otherwise. The pictures we received with our ticket shows a car turning right on red, which is not illegal at this particular junction, Leila at Sinclair. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
A question for Chris or Todd or anyone with the knowledge.
Why are there no speed traps along regular sections of road (ie on Bishop Grandin between 59 and St. Anne), where their is a SERIOUS speeding issue, and NO RADAR CAMERA…??!! I travel part of this road each and every day to work, and the speeds are WAAAAAYYYY over the 80 limit.
Whats the point of radar vans sitting in a school zone after 16:00 hrs…? Oh ya, I think its that stupid ruling where thats the ONLY places these vans can park, along with construction sites…? Correct me if I’m wrong. Was it the province that dreamed up this demented idea…? They could make all kinds of “honest” ticket cash from REAL cops giving out REAL tickets on the Bishop stretch.
It confirms what the guys at WiseUp are saying about the cash grab done the easy way…!
I’ve never heard of this as being a problem speed area. Usually with all those lights in close proximity, traffic doesn’t ge much of a chance to speed. There is also no convienant place to set-up a full trap. They much rather be between Pembina and Waverley where they can use the hydro station lot to pull people into. Also, you get higher speeds out there because of the lack of lights slowing traffic down.
I would like to mention a couple of points.
First to Vern Tkach Jan 11, 2012 whose son made a $444.00 donation to the city.
What wasn’t mentioned was that based on that charge the spped being traveled had to be 20-34km over the speed limit and since it was near the upper range of this band I would say closer to 34 over the posted amount or around 90kph. Sorry pay the ticket and stop winning your son was way over the speed limit.
To Chris Sweryda you say you are concernered “This is about showing the issues with Winnipeg infrastructure that are getting people caught into doing 10-15 km/h over the limit and getting fined” I say tat a big part of the problem is that people like you that think that to speed 10-15 over the posted limit is not a problem.
If speeds on Hwy 75 were raised to 70 using your logic people like you would routinly travel 80 – 85 and think that is fine.
I travel around the city and have not had a problem reading the speed signs which give you advanced warning of a speed reduction andf then reduce the speed. So many people drive and are oblivious of what is going on around them. People drive on autopilot and travel the speed of the traffic around them many with no idea as to the speed they are traveling, when lights are about to turn red or cross walks.
As a runner and cyclist I see over and over again car after car that has time to stop for a cross walk but drives right through even though a car in the next lane and 30 feet in front of them managed to stop without excessive braking.
Drivers that run reds well after the light has changed to green for me to proceed because they were speeding to make the light. Osbourn and pembina being a very bad location even though there are 2 sets of lights. If you are going through on the tail end of a yellow on the first one then you should be slowing down not speeding up because you can’t make the second one. Unfortunately the city does not have a red light camera located there.
If the light has a perdestrain light and the stop hand has come up and it is flashing the light is about to change so so down instead of speeding up and save a life and avoid a ticket.
Also in regards to your rebuttal to “50kph unless otherwise posted” While I can not speak about all road ways in the city lets look at your rebutal example.
You said “The last speed sign on Pembina SB before the camera at Chevrier is at Jubilee. The next sign isn’t until close to plaza leaving a 2.6 km distance between signs. Should traffic coming off of McGillvray or any other road along there do 50 unless otherwise posted?” The traffic coming up Pembina are traveling 60kph those coming off harrow, stafford or Jubilee are traveling 50 and can increase to 60 at the sign if they do not know the speed. Traffic coming off McGillvray have been reduced to 60 as they approach Pembina and in the absence of another sign can continue at 60kph on Pembina Hwy. All other side streets are 50kph so they could travel at 50 until they see a sign and there would not be a problem. Traffic comming off Bishop Grandin will see the sign right after they turn on to Pembina. So I don’t see what the problem is. If people left 10 minutes earlier then there would be no need to speed.
As for duel signing while I don not disagree that the city could duel sign. Any speed reduction I have seen has a warnings and then the reduced speed. If you are driving and aware of your surroundings you should see at least one of the 2 signs. If you are oblivious to signs then you are also oblivious to the pedestrian or cyclist that is also out there and that is not right.
At what point did I say or even imply that I condone or do drive 10-15 km/h over the limit? When I said people are getting tricked into speeding I’m refering to the perfectlyt placed 60 signs followed by speed reductions that are completly out of compliance with traffic standards.
Your understanding of 50 unless otherwise posted if flawed. You have just stated that it’s okay to turn off of a road with a 60 speed limit and assume the next road also has a 60 speed limit (McGillvray-Pembina). If that’s the case, then you must have a huge problem with the enforcement on Poovencher at Des Meuron since if you came off of Archibald, you came from a 60 zone.
Now for your claim about the flashing hand and slowing down. That is something they tell you in driving school, but that doesn’t work. First of all, the lights MUsT be timed so that the amber gives enough time for traffic to stop without needing to use the flashing hand. Second of all, many many lights in the city go through a phase where teh hand flashes, goes up solid and then flips back to the walk cycle without the lights changing. What is going on there is coordinated actuation which is too complicated for me to get into here, but it is a reality and is being done to more and more intersections every year. If you need examples, Bishop Grandin at Shorehill, Bishop Grandin at Lake Crest, Bishop Grandin at Seigneurie are three that are very close to each other and in an 80 km/h zone.
Your answer looks good, but it is WRONG.
If the city expected everytone to be as great of a driver as you who can see through other vehicles and read signs accross multiple lanes of traffic, then why are curve signs on both sides of the road? You sound like that cop I talked to on Bishop Grandin who eventually had to back down. BTW before you start saying I was caught speeding on Bishop Grandin, I wasn’t, I pulled into the hydro station and talked to them on my own.
why dont you scofflaws..do like other people and obey the law….driving over the speed limit is illeagal so if you get caught you pay….what makes you idiots think your above the law. if some speeder hit your wife mother or child you would be the first to bitchnever mind complaining about how you got caught ….YOU GOT CAUGHT ….grow up..pay the fine ..then drive the speed limit …like every one else before you kill someone..
hey i got two tickets at the nathanial and grant… what should i do when i went to go fight another ticket they had told me i got a photo radar ticket so i said i was guilty but i was going 63 and the next day was when the media was all over it.. what should i do???
After recieving 2 speeding in a construction zone tickets after 7 pm 2 years ago and a photo radar ticket when I was in second gear doing under 30 i thought i would check this out. My issue is not being above the law it is the law is not clearly defined. I commute on the 75 (pembina) daily. If you are in the inner lane entering or leaving the city there are no signs indicating the speed limit. There is only 60 posted outer lanes and they seem far from the road. If you have semi beside you or a large truck its game over you will not see the sign. It is not uncommon to see a handfull of cars pulled over recieving tickets because the transition from 100 to 60 is not well defined.
Nothing can be be greater for tourism in this city other than seeing the welcome to Winnipeg sign and a $250 ticket.
Patrick you had some valid points. However, if the red light cameras( and all other lights) were set up properly with a delay in the amber it would eliminate many of the accidents involved with pedestrians and cyclists. Regardless there are still going to be the handfull of race car drivers attempting to get a trophy after running a red light. I am not perfect there are times when I have slept in pushed the snooze bar one to many times and drove a little faster than i should have in the morning. I have recieved a ticket when I deserved it and just shut up about it and paid it. Not everyone knows the city as well as you might. and does not know to slow down at the tail end of Osbourne. When I drive it is usually looking forward not searching for signs that should be there to begin with and I am not that interested in cycling to find them. Perhaps I should just stay in the right hand lane ? Sorry to hear you have had some bad experiences with cars. Maybe try catching a bus and save cycling for a trail if cars are that much of an issue for you
It sad that people have no clue what is really going on. Let me help you all.
This city is OUTDATED and has a OUTDATED TRAFFIC SYSTEM. Because it has a outdated traffic system, many problems happen such as traffic jams and bottle necks to rear end collisions. So as a cop out , the City of Winnipeg, rather than fixing the outdating problems, instead is pointing the fingure at the drivers and telling them to slow down because speeding is the reason why Winnipeg is so dangerous. Well not true at all. On the perimeter and the highways, people drive 100km and hour and the reason why there are little accidents in comparision, is because the highways allow for what is called TRAFFIC FLOW. Winnipeg being an a city with a outdating traffic system refuses to make things better, but would rather take advantage of the drivers who do their best to follow the rules. Why would the city do such a thing? Because it makes them money and fixing the problems does not make the city money therefore the problems just get worse.
Here are some examples on how problematic Winnipeg is:
-All bridges in Winnipeg has a red light at each side of the bridge defeating the purpose of the bridge
-Winnipeg does not zone its city properly causing some roads to be all 3, residential, commercial, and industrial
-Winnipeg does not build proper service roads where needed therefor, infesting the roadways with red lights bunching cars together.
-Winnipeg has more red lights per capital than any other city in Canada leaving drivers to travel through Winnipeg and a calculated average speed of 13.5kph.
-Calgary,Toronto, and Winnipeg have traffic issues but at 4 am when everyone is in bed and the streets are empty, you can fly through Calgary and Toronto and get from one end of the city to the next while in Winnipeg you are still stopping at the red light that was installed for a grocery store that is closed.
-Winnipeg built The Perimeter Highway that is outside the city that does not help Winnipeg at all.
-With the exception of Main Street, all major routes in Winnipeg come to a dead end.
-Many of Winnipegs streets will have one route and many name changes such as Osbourne, Issibel, Salter, Memmorial, which is rediculous. Yes once again Osbourne, Issibel, Salter, Memmorial is the same road.
-Winnipeg has empty sidewalks for miles upon miles yet cyclists are forced to use the road.
-Winnipeg is the only city I know where cyclists, pedestrians, parking, buses, garbage bins have more right to the road than cars.
-Every major route in Winnipeg is a parking lot. Portage Avenue, Main Street, Pembina, Henderson, ect all allow parking taking away a much needed lane which causes accidents. What is rediculous is that there are heaps of places to park on the side streets yet Winnipeg being outdating does not fix this problem. Main Routes like Grant, Osbourne, Ellice, Sargent, Ness, Corydon, ect all turn into one lane because of the allowance of parking on those routes bottle necking traffic and bringing traffic to a bumber to bumber situation increasing rear end collisions.
-Only in Winnipeg, people will say, “People should stop complaining about Winnipeg traffic. It took me only 30 minutes to get home from work” Those are the people that are unaware of how small Winnipeg really is, and that in the 30 minutes worth of driving, they only really traveled 2.5 km.
-The Charleswood Bridge was supposed to be built in 1950 but was not completed until 46 years later in 1996.
-Our city allows new housing developments to be built right beside 90km and 80km streets which defeats the purpose of why those 90km and 80km zones.
The list goes on and on, yet the cities solution is to ticket senior citizens and struggling single mothers by giving them 280$ tickets for doing 60km in a 50 zone. Pathetic.
J-walking and Panhanding is extremely unsafe and also against the law and the city does nothing about it.
The sex trade is also illegal yet the city arrests Johns but never arrests the hookers or pimps that are the source of the illegal racket.
With my tax dollars I would expect and demand the city to zone our city properly. Sign roadways properly.
Built proper routes for Cyclists and for petes sake, dont have cyclists drive side by side with cars.
Built proper infrastructer to handle the traffic demand. And make traffic flow better for all drivers so that MPI can deal with less and less collisions.
And before you say “not with my tax dollars” understand this…….. that is what your tax dollars are supposed to be spend on. Every other city thinks Winnipeg is a joke and its pretty sad that people in Toronto would rather drive in Toronto than Winnipeg.
Finally i will close by saying if your one of the people that say “If you dont like Winnipeg then leave” Well my answer to you is this, Why leave and join the thousands upon thousands that have already left? Why not stay, voice my concerns that my tax dollars and freedoms allow me too and help to fix the problem. Of the world stopped complaining, then nothing would ever get fixed. Thank you Wise up Winnipeg.
The bottom line is this, Winnipeg is the only major city in Manitoba which is a prairie city and has all the space in the world yet Winnipeg streets are CLUSTERED CLUSTERED CLUSTERED! Look at Winnipeg on a map and it is a mess.
Poor planning is what is making our city unsafe. Even if we drove 30km an hour our city would still be unsafe. In fact , if we all drove 30km an hour, it would make Winnipeg even more dangerous because traffic would be jammed even longer and cars would remain on the road for even longer.
In 1970 downtown sidewalks were packed with people and Portage avenue had 4 lands to allow traffic flow. 42 years later downtown has no one on the sidewalks and yet one lane was taken away leaving the most bussiest street in the city to go from 4 lanes to 3 so that the imaginary pedestrians can have bigger sidewalks and Portage ave downtown can be used as a parking lot even though it has parkades everywhere. Keep driving, down Portage Ave and you will find that a route that starts in Vancouver will come to a end at Portage and Main.
Ever compare Minneapolis (which was once a sister city) to Winnipeg? I bet the Minneapolis freeway which is 110km is 15 times safer than any route in Winnipeg. Ask yourself, why is that?
I can tell you. The reason why it is safer is because it allows traffic flow, it seperates cars from cyclysts, pedestrians, parking, and garbage bins from traffic. WOW! And who said Americans are dumber than Manitobans?
Am I promoting a freeway in Winnipeg? No. Am I promoting the city to do their jobs to allow better traffic flow? YES!
Law abiding denis-Let’s break down your ‘comment’. Quote:
“why dont you scofflaws..do like other people and obey the law” That’s an appeal to authority,
“….driving over the speed limit is illeagal” The speed limit not a law but an Act.
“so if you get caught you pay….” Again an appeal to authority. You’re saying that you should just pay blindly because someone told you to. It does not matter if the authority is correct in the accusation?
“what makes you idiots think your above the law.” Ad homonym attack. By your simply calling people idiots shows that you haven’t read through the data, you haven’t disproved the data.
“if some speeder hit your wife mother or child you would be the first to bitch” Appeal to emotion. Also, the shallow term of “bitch” here means to complain. Would the death of a loved one be just an inconvenience in your mind?
“never mind complaining about how you got caught ….YOU GOT CAUGHT” Details are irrelevant, therefore everyone is guilty because you said so, or the Authority Figure said so? Appeal to authority.
“grow up..pay the fine” Please paypal me money, I’m an Authority Figure. I’m fining you for not using capitals at the beginning of sentences, you should have learned that in elementary school.
“then drive the speed limit …like every one else before you kill someone..” Appeal to probability. Your unwarranted assumption that something will happen, because it can happen, fails right there. You can kill anyone driving the speed limit as well.
telling the truth, it is not about the safety of winnipegers, it is thieffery the city stealing from us, for instance they will post 60 km after few blocks it is 50 km just one example. i just got ticket of $240.00 for driving at 65km at the 50km zone on starfford, has anyone saw a 50km speed limit on starfford?
Its not a matter of speeding or not…its a matter of police resources being used to catch people speeding. Sure, they need to dedicate some to people driving crazy. Why dont we go after the crack dealers, prostitutes, gangs, punks, arsonists, shop lifters, grandma beating criminals who make Winnipeg seem like a place to dangerous to live in. I’d like to challenge the people for photo radar tax collection sites to go for a walk down Portage avenue at 11 pm on a Saturday night after a hockey game and see how safe you feel. I lived in Calgary for 4 years and people sped way more there and much higher and I didnt see any increase in accidents. Maybe there was but I didnt notice anything. But they didnt have flashing white lights on cabs or shields behind the drivers and you could walk down town after hockey game and your biggest threat was a Calgary Flames fan spilling a beer on you after finally winning a game. Its just taxation people on middle class, law abiding soccer moms. Nothing more. Anyone who thinks its saving money is just a self righteous fool who likes websites like this because they get people all worked up by taking the oppsoite
The 50 signs are on Wellington Crescent. There’s also one on Taylor WB west of Pembina and a couple at Grant and Nathaniel (after the photo camera). You won’t find a 50 sign on a street with photo radar.
Please let us stop to be in denial, this is not about our safety money grab period. Just paid $240.00 for the so called 50km zone on Stafford and
let us demand our money back from the thugs,rise up winnipeg