One-day blitz nets more Edmonton traffic violations than all of September

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In a single one-day blitz, the Edmonton Police Service issued more tickets than all the 902 tickets they issued in September.

Operation 24 Hours was an Oct. 11 collective effort with the City of Edmonton’s automated enforcement, the Edmonton Police Commission heard this week.

Among the 1,342 violators was a Hyundai Genesis travelling twice the speed limit at 11 p.m. near Roper Road and 42 Avenue. EPS’ major collision investigation section intercepted and clocked it at 121 km/h in a posted 60 km/h zone. A 19-year-old driver was issued a mandatory summons under the Traffic Safety Act.

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As is typical, the majority of infractions were related to speed, with 922 tickets.

‘Preventable problem’

Speed kills, Acting Chief Devin Laforce told the commission on Thursday.

“People need to slow down, obey traffic safety laws, and be more cautious.

“I want to acknowledge this serious and preventable problem that plagues the city before the days grow shorter, which certainly can impact visibility and worsen driving conditions. We can all apply a little extra caution to ensure everyone’s safety,” Laforce said.

Also on Oct. 11, there were 86 red light tickets, 231 non-hazardous Traffic Safety Act infractions (equipment, documents, etc.), 80 hazardous infractions (moving violations), 15 distracting driving violations, six Criminal Code driving offences, and one other Criminal Code charge related to a vehicle stop.

Over the entire Thanksgiving weekend, more than 5,000 tickets were issued, including 4,942 speeding tickets, 19 distracted driving tickets, and 31 impaired driving charges, Laforce said.

Commissioner Ben Henderson said it’s worrying to see continued accidents despite engineering to make roads safer. Henderson recalled a recent incident on twisty Groat Road where a motorcycle moved in between two lanes of vehicles.

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“There was no space between the cars, and they went between the three of us … It caught me completely by surprise,” he said.

“You can’t engineer your way out of that kind of stupidity. So what can we do? If that’s the next piece of the puzzle, in order to get the numbers down even more, how do you go about doing something?”

In July 2024, an EPS investigation revealed a group of motorcyclists were routinely driving dangerously and then posting videos of it to social media accounts.

In September,  EPS members arrested a 23-year-old man suspected of driving dangerously and posting related video, and charged him with five counts of dangerous operation, seizing his motorcycle.

“It basically just became popular on social media to be driving fast, breaking the rules, those types of things,” Laforce said Thursday.

“Broadcasting those types of results, those types of consequences for that activity is absolutely important.”

‘Hurting someone is for life’

Laforce said the department continues to advocate for automated enforcement. Police can seize vehicles if the driver is caught speeding at 50 km/h or more over the legal speed limit.

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“There’s a disturbing number of these vehicles that are going that fast, and a car is one thing. But now, if you’re on two wheels and you’re going more than 50 kilometres above the speed limit, if you’re in a crash, there’s no helmet or leather jacket that’s going to save you,” he said.

Being distracted can result in careless driving charges, dangerous driving charges under the Criminal Code of Canada — or worse, injuring someone, Laforce said.

“The fine for distracted driving is $287 and has three demerits; hurting someone is for life,” he said.

“Despite all of our best efforts to educate and enforce, impaired driving remains an ongoing issue. ‘If you drink, don’t drive’ isn’t complicated, but too many people are still committing this offence.”

Generally, the actual number of traffic injuries and fatalities is still greatly reduced from 10 or 15 years ago, he said.

“But it’s just horrible in any and every way when we go to these terrible traffic collisions. It impacts the family and impacts the community,” he said.

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