Leadfoots beware!
The city is getting ready to install automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras on Barrie streets.
The city installed signs Monday in areas of Barrie where an ASE camera will be placed in a few months.
They will be posted for at least 90 days before the ASE is activated, providing drivers with advance notice.
Once the speed camera goes live, the sign will read ‘Municipal Speed Camera in Use’.
Cameras will be active only when this sign is posted.
ASE is a system that uses cameras to enforce speed limits. They can reduce the risk of collisions and help ensure that motorists don’t exceed the speed limit in community safety zones — areas designated through a bylaw, passed by city council, to identify a roadway of higher risk or concern.
Certain Highway Traffic Act fines, including speeding, are doubled in community safety zones and many are located close to schools.
Barrie has 27 community safety zones identified as problem areas where the cameras could be installed. This is based on data collected showing areas where drivers are regularly exceeding the posted speed limit.
In 2017, Ontario authorized the use of ASE in municipalities to address ongoing issues with speeding in school zones and community safety zones.
On June 20, 2022, Barrie city council approved a motion to implement an ASE program in school zones and community safety zones.
A maximum of $300,000, funded from the tax rate stabilization reserve, will be used to set up the program. Annual costs will be considered by council during its yearly budget process.
ASE is a system that uses a camera and a speed measuring device to detect and capture images of vehicles travelling faster than the posted speed limit in school or community safety zones. These types of charges are the responsibility of the vehicle owner and not the driver. They must currently be processed through a Provincial Offences (POA) Court office.
The ticket contains a digitized copy of the image and an enlargement of the plate portion. It is mailed to the registered licence-plate holder within 30 days of the offence, outlining next steps and the cost of the associated fine. There is a monetary fine for those convicted, but demerit points are not issued and the registered owner’s driving record isn’t affected.
For more information, visit barrie.ca/traffic.
