Nearly 330 offense reports have been handed out every day by Montreal patrol officers in recent weeks, on average, as part of the surveillance blitz around schools for the start of the school year. This is an increase of 30% compared to last year.
This is what the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) indicated on Monday, in a preliminary report, revealing that it had given 8,571 infraction reports to road users during 1,172 “repression operations” through the island, which were held from August 26 to September 20.
By email, the police force mentions a “significant number”, since “compared to the start of the 2023 school year, police officers have submitted 37% more offense reports”, maintains its spokesperson, Mélanie Bergeron. Last year, 6,200 reports were submitted during the same period.
This time, of the total, around 1,840 offenses were noted by photo radars installed in school zones. “More than 178 hours of operation were carried out and 43,182 vehicles captured,” says the police force.
Unsurprisingly, speed is responsible for the most crimes. More than 2,950 tickets were issued for speeding in school zones, which means that the fine was doubled, as on construction sites. Around 900 other fines were handed out for “other speeding”, and 560 for failing to stop.
The SPVM also confirms having carried out nine “live radar” operations in several schools. This means that students wearing backpacks indicate the speed of motorists near schools, a new practice that has appeared on the streets of the metropolis since last year.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The use of “live radars” is a new practice that has appeared on the streets of the metropolis since last year.
In the eyes of the authorities, “this type of intervention allows immediate awareness of the dangers of excessive speed in school zones”, in the context where approximately 71% of motorists in Quebec do not respect the speed limit of 30 km/h in school zone.
The Montreal police finally add that they have organized more than a thousand “prevention activities” in its 29 neighborhood stations (PDQ), during which more than 9,000 bookmarks and leaflets were given to road users “in order to raise awareness about safety around schools and sharing the street.”
A few weeks ago, at the beginning of September, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, reiterated that she wanted Quebec to accelerate the deployment of photo radars on its territory, in particular to strengthen security around schools.
She is asking for 300, while the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility plans only 250 for the entire province, for the moment. This tool makes it possible to reduce road accidents by 42%, according to information provided by the City.