Drivers beware: mobile photo radar gets rolling
New mobile units will be harder to predict
Drivers beware: 17 new moveable photo-radar systems are ready to nab speeders starting today on Montreal's south shore, as well as in Quebec City and Gatineau.
The new mobile radar trucks can be shifted from place to place, which should make it difficult for drivers to predict their location.
Another 19 stationary models will be installed throughout the province within a month, all equipped to automatically detect scofflaws who drive too fast or barrel through red lights.
The 36 new units will be shifted around 129 locations across the province, including a pair that will be moved about in six locations on the South Shore.
Many machines will be controlled by SQ provincial police, while some others will be managed by municipal police forces in Longueuil, Laval, Gatineau and Quebec City as part of an 18-month pilot project.
The decision to install more of the devices comes as a response to complaints of excessive speeding, according to Transport Quebec representative Guillaume Paradis.
"In Quebec City, it was decided to increase the total to get people to try to slow down. We were looking to install them at places where people were complaining of speeding on their streets," he said.
Provincial Transport Minister Robert Poëti has said that speeding has decreased by 59 per cent in areas where photo radar has been installed, while the devices have reduced the number of people driving through red lights by 80 per cent.