Here's where Hamilton's fastest drivers are getting caught speeding

A stretch of road that spans downtown Hamilton's core to McMaster University is where police have caught Hamilton's fastest drivers.

Data obtained by the CBC shows how many stunt drivers — anyone going 40 km/h over the posted speed limit — were caught per year from 2018 to 2022, and shows where drivers were caught the most last year.

King Street West topped the list with 16 stunt driving charges, twice as many as any other stretch of road last year.

That street starts at James Street North, runs above Highway 403 and ends at Forsyth Avenue.

"We are data driven in the traffic safety branch, so King and Dundurn was an area we knew we needed to have increased attention," Staff Sgt. Scott Galbraith told CBC Hamilton.

"So it stands to reason the more time we spent at that intersection, there's likely more charges."

Nikola Tesla Boulevard had the second most stunt driving charges with six in 2022.

Burlington Street East, Highway 52 and Kenilworth Avenue South, with five stunt driving charges each made the top 5.

Photo radar catches driver going 99 km/h over limit

A May 1 public works committee meeting also highlighted some of the highest speeds caught by photo radar, also called automatic speed enforcement (ASE).

Those cameras are run by the city, not the police department, but Const. Krista-Lee Ernst, a spokesperson for the police department, said anything that reduces speed is beneficial.

The fastest driver was going 99 km/h over the posted limit on Upper Ottawa Street between Fennell Avenue East and Mohawk Road East.

The second fastest was 83 km/h over the posted speed limit on Upper Wellington Street between Limeridge Road East and Mohawk Road East.

"The surprising part is you would have these offenses at all," Galbraith said. "People who aren't driving in a safe manner and putting the safety of our community, our members and themselves at risk."

Ward 15 Coun. Ted McMeekin said during a May 24 city council meeting that the police and the city do what they can to stop speeders, but said the province should allow cities to put photo radar cameras on any roadway, rather than just community safety zones and school safety zones.

He pointed to how the Cambridge city council wrote to the province asking for this. McMeekin successfully moved a motion to have the city write its own letter.

"We need to let the province know we're not fooling around. This is life and death."

Ward 12 Coun. Craig Cassar said he supported the notion, but added better road design is the key to preventing speeding.

Why stunt driving charges soared in 2022

There were 199 stunt driving charges issued in 2022, a drastic jump compared to the past five years.

Galbraith said one thing to consider is the province passing The Moving Ontarians More Safely Act.

It introduced stiffer penalties for stunt driving, street racing and aggressive driving offences, and lowered the speed threshold for stunt driving charges from 50 km/h to 40 km/h or more above the speed limit on roads where the limit is less than 80 km/h.

Galbraith also said another factor is Hamilton police centralizing its traffic safety branch in 2021.

The 20-member unit, which he said operates 24/7, focuses on maintaining high visibility in the public. He said the unit educates drivers complements the city's safety programs. 

He said the unit uses data from the city to proactively address traffic–related issues and strategically respond to community concerns.

The third factor, Galbraith said, is there are more drivers on the road now that pandemic restrictions are no longer in place.

He noted that in some cases when it's too unsafe, officers won't chase down a stunt driver and will opt to do a followup investigation.