Police are handing out about half the number of speeding tickets they did five years ago, according to an analysis of data from the Windsor Police Service.Since 2008, more than 46,000 tickets were handed out within the City of Windsor boundaries. The Windsor Star obtained records of those tickets through a Freedom of Information request.Const. Andrew Drouillard, of the Windsor Police Service, said while speeding tickets are decreasing, traffic enforcement as a whole is up.“The traffic branch takes into account a lot of factors when deciding how to allocate resources,” he said. Since distracted driving charges came into effect in 2009, police have spent more time trying to track down drivers whose eyes are on hand-held devices and not the road, taking time away from speeding offences.
Drouillard said the city conducts speed studies on major roadways and collects citizen complaints about where they think are the problem areas. Police also take note of spots where there are drivers blowing through stop signs, cars driving through red lights, cars passing school buses near schools or where people have seen aggressive driving habits.That leads police to crack down on issues such as speeding at spots known to be troublesome or dangerous. In Windsor, many of those are along main routes into the city or toward Ambassador Bridge.The most tickets were issued to drivers along Huron Church Road, where the proximity to Assumption College Catholic High School has led to the area being designated a Community Safety Zone.Coun. John Elliott and Paul Borrelli, whose wards run adjacent to the speeding stretch, said they hadn’t heard complaints of fast drivers. Borrelli said that the larger problem comes from drivers deciding to cut through a shorter rout along Daytona, which runs parallel to Huron Church.He said another problem spot is along Dominion and Longfellow, where drivers speed past houses, schools and religious institutions.Philippa von Ziegenweidt, a resident of Riverside Drive in the east of Windsor, said she’s not surprised there have been thousands of tickets handed out along the residential road that’s often treated like a thoroughfare.At one point, there was about a collision a year on one curved stretch of the road near her house. Cars whip around bends and speed past pedestrians. Cyclists will face the fines and ride on the sidewalk rather than braving aggressive drivers on the road.Von Ziegenweidt said she worries about her kids walking on the sidewalk. There are too many drivers who see the route as an east-west highway, not a residential street.“It would be nice if people could be more aware,” von Ziegenweidt said. Although more than 2,400 speeding tickets have been issued along Riverside Drive, she said she’s never seen an officer in her area.“I think if it’s never enforced you tend to get a little bit lazy. But we should be driving at an appropriate speed not because we’re afraid of being caught.”
Drouillard said the city conducts speed studies on major roadways and collects citizen complaints about where they think are the problem areas. Police also take note of spots where there are drivers blowing through stop signs, cars driving through red lights, cars passing school buses near schools or where people have seen aggressive driving habits.That leads police to crack down on issues such as speeding at spots known to be troublesome or dangerous. In Windsor, many of those are along main routes into the city or toward Ambassador Bridge.The most tickets were issued to drivers along Huron Church Road, where the proximity to Assumption College Catholic High School has led to the area being designated a Community Safety Zone.Coun. John Elliott and Paul Borrelli, whose wards run adjacent to the speeding stretch, said they hadn’t heard complaints of fast drivers. Borrelli said that the larger problem comes from drivers deciding to cut through a shorter rout along Daytona, which runs parallel to Huron Church.He said another problem spot is along Dominion and Longfellow, where drivers speed past houses, schools and religious institutions.Philippa von Ziegenweidt, a resident of Riverside Drive in the east of Windsor, said she’s not surprised there have been thousands of tickets handed out along the residential road that’s often treated like a thoroughfare.At one point, there was about a collision a year on one curved stretch of the road near her house. Cars whip around bends and speed past pedestrians. Cyclists will face the fines and ride on the sidewalk rather than braving aggressive drivers on the road.Von Ziegenweidt said she worries about her kids walking on the sidewalk. There are too many drivers who see the route as an east-west highway, not a residential street.“It would be nice if people could be more aware,” von Ziegenweidt said. Although more than 2,400 speeding tickets have been issued along Riverside Drive, she said she’s never seen an officer in her area.“I think if it’s never enforced you tend to get a little bit lazy. But we should be driving at an appropriate speed not because we’re afraid of being caught.”
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