‘It works’: Winnipeg coun. calls for crackdown on distracted driving, photo radar

So far this year, there have been just shy of 60 deaths on Manitoba roads, and one Winnipeg city councillor says she’d like to see a crackdown on distracted driving to help make local roads safer.

Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) told 680 CJOB’s The News on Monday that while she’s aware it’s an unpopular position, she’d like to see Manitoba follow in the footsteps of other international jurisdictions and implement photo technology that catches scofflaws on their phones or otherwise distracted behind the wheel.

“In Brazil, in New Zealand, in Australia … they are using photo technology,” Lukes said. “If you’re on your phone, they take a snapshot of it, they take a snapshot of your plate, and they send you a ticket.

“I’d campaign on that. I know some of my colleagues would campaign on it. If you look at the statistics of road safety in these countries that use it, it works. If it’s used properly, it works.”

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Lukes said she’s personally experienced the impacts of losing a family member to a fatal crash, and she’d like to see something done to keep other Manitobans from going through the same trauma.

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“My father, when I was 18 years old, was killed in a car crash. Your life changes in a heartbeat, forever and every day.”

Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) says the majority of the deaths on Manitoba roads this year have been caused by distracted driving. Last year, more than 2,800 people in the province had their licences suspended for distracted driving, an increase from the roughly 2,500 in 2023.

MPI’s Tara Seel told Global Winnipeg it’s important to note that distracted driving can refer to a number of situations where a driver can’t give the road their full attention — it’s not just about making a phone call.

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“(You may have) children in the back seat, or unrestrained pets moving around the vehicle. We don’t want people just to think it’s cell phones,” Seel said.

“You have to remember that distracted driving leads to reduced response time.”

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CAA Manitoba’s Ewald Friesen said other jurisdictions are using AI technology to catch distracted drivers in the act, and while that kind of setup could be beneficial down the road, it’s not currently available in Canada.

“It’s being piloted in places like Australia and the United States and in the U.K.,” Friesen said. “It can’t detect whether you’re a distracted driver.

“This is not in use in Canada at the moment … it needs to be clarified legally before it’s in use.”

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At present, Friesen said, the major tools in effect to improve road safety are related to law enforcement and education.

“Obviously laws and enforcement are one of the major tools that we use. So is education and the important advocacy work that we do here over at CAA and other advocacy groups in the province.”

Premier Wab Kinew told Global Winnipeg on Tuesday that he was hearing about the idea for the first time, and would need to look into it further before commenting.

While the issue of increasing photo enforcement continues to be mulled over in Manitoba, the opposite is happening next door in Ontario.

That province is undergoing the removal of its speed cameras, which will be replaced with large signs. The move comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s assertion that the camera’s aren’t effective in reducing speeds and are little more than a “tax grab.”

1:44 Toronto holds road safety summit urging government to keep speed cameras