VICTORIA, B.C- There will be more eyes on British Columbia’s roads in future.
With the aim of reducing deaths and serious injuries on provincial roads, red-light cameras across B.C will be operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, up from six hours per day.
“For too long, cameras with a proven record of curbing red-light runners and the serious crashes they cause were not operating at full capacity,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in a government press release.
“Last year, we saw a record 350,000 crashes in B.C., with about 60 per cent of them happening at intersections. The full activation of these cameras is overdue and an important step for safety on some of our busiest roadways.”
The move to full activation began in September of last year, and full activation was in place by the end of July.
“In B.C., a red-light camera offence occurs when a vehicle enters an intersection after the signal light turns red,” read the government news release.
“The vehicle’s registered owner is responsible for the ticket even if they are not driving, but does not receive penalty points on their licence.”
The province will be adding technology to certain camera locations to ticket the fastest drivers passing through those intersections on red, yellow, and green lights, with planning still underway to figure out which intersection will get the upgrade.
New signage would be installed after the upgrade is in place.
The locations and number of upgraded cameras will be announced in the fall, according to the province.
IMAGE CAPTION: Map of red light cameras in the province, sourced from ICBC.
