Battery Issues In Cold Weather Lead To Less Photo Radar Tickets In Moose Jaw
By Robert Thomas
If you happened to be speeding through school zones equipped with automated speed monitoring units - photo radar - early in 2023 shame on you.
If you happened to be speeding through school zones controlled by photo radar and you never received a ticket you may have been lucky in a Clint Eastwood sort of way.
It all has to deal with federal regulations and the inability to get proper batteries for colder temperatures to meet new federal rules.
According to Tyler McMurchy manager of media relations supply chain issues getting long term battery replacements led to a temporary battery solution.
Unfortunately the temporary batteries have a drawback and they don’t work very well in colder temperatures.
“Essentially what happened was the vendor needed to change the type of batteries used in the cameras to comply with federal regulations. The change was made last year, but the alternative batteries – which were employed as a temporary measure until appropriate, long-term replacements could be sourced -- had significant performance issues in cold weather. This resulted in fewer violations detected – and therefore tickets issued -- between November of 2022 and March of 2023,” McMurchy told MJ Independent.
Due to supply chain issues finding proper long term batteries that will work in cold temperatures took months with the photo radar contractor Redflex unable to find and install replacements until May 2023.
The resulting poor batteries ended up having fewer speed violations and thus fewer tickets issued in the province, McMurchy said.
A speeding violation is not the same as a ticket being issued due to varying tolerances set into when a ticket is issued.
Simply because a violation is detected does not mean a ticket is issued even if the speed dictates a ticket being issued in the case of emergency vehicles.
Impact On Moose Jaw
For Moose Jaw the battery problems appear to have had their greatest impact in January and February.
“Looking at the violation data that is reported…it appears that the number of violations dropped noticeably in January and February 2023 compared to the same months in previous years,” McMurchy said
Intersection of 9th Avenue NW and Highway #1
In January 2022 there were 1,513 violations detected at the intersection of 9th Avenue NW whereas the same intersection recorded 357 violations in January 2023.
In February 2022 there were 1,643 violations were detected at the intersection of 9th Avenue NW whereas the same intersection recorded 716 violations in February 2023.
School Zone Cameras
In January 2022 there were 58 violations detected in school zones in Moose whereas the same school zone cameras recorded 18 violations in January 2023.
In February 2022 there were 57 violations detected in school zones in Moose whereas the same school zone cameras recorded 44 violations in February 2023.
For other cooler months the impact on Moose Jaw violations - according to statistics - are roughly the same.
Asked about what affect the reduced violations and subsequent tickets issued would have on the City of Moose Jaw’s bottom line McMurchy said he could not comment.
Photo radar is not suppose to be about issuing tickets but it serves as a deterrent to speeding.
“I can’t speak to that as it’s not clear what that impact will be. It should be noted that the goal of the photo speed enforcement program is not to issue tickets – It's to calm traffic and reduce speeds. It would be great if no one ever sped past a PSE camera and no tickets were issued. Any revenue that is generated goes to fund traffic safety projects in communities throughout Saskatchewan,” he said.
Although the money Moose Jaw receives is supposed to go to road safety initiatives the City has loosely defined regular road upgrades and maintenance as being part of a road safety initiative.
SGI allows the money to be used in such a manner as it does improve road safety.
The cost of replacing the batteries will be borne by the contractor with SGI having no knowledge how much replacing the batteries cost.