Noting the need for increased safety on roadways, Don Valley East MPP David Caplan introduced a Private Member's Bill into the Ontario Legislature Monday, Nov. 22 calling for the use of safety cameras in construction and community safety zones.
The bill, which passed first reading, also calls for an exemption from the demerit point system for persons who are convicted of an offence based on safety camera evidence. In addition, the bill states a highway or a part of a highway may be designated as a community safety zone if the highway adjoins or is adjacent to land on which a school, schoolyard, daycare, seniors' residence, community centre or playground is located. It calls for change to all references in the Highway Traffic Act to photo-radar systems to safety cameras.Private Member's Bills rarely become law. "Our members fully support Don Valley East MPP David Caplan's private member's bill and we hope the government will too," Karen Renkema, spokesperson for the Ontario Road Builders' Association, said in a release. "We've got the technology to make our roads and construction zones safer, and save lives, let's use it." A recent Harris/Decima survey commissioned by the Ontario Road Builders' Association found 67 per cent of Ontarians support the use of safety cameras to measure speed near schools, community centres and construction zones on provincial highways and local roads. According to the Ontario Road Safety Annual Report (ORSAR) more than 4,899 pedestrians were killed or hurt in collisions in 2007, up from 4,855 in 2006. According to the Ministry of Transportation, 52 people were killed and more than 2,800 were injured in construction work zones on Ontario roadways between 2000 and 2006.