For five days, the Montreal police handed over almost 800 tickets last week near the Jacques-Cartier bridge, as part of a “surveillance blitz” which aimed to deter the blocking of intersections by certain motorists who enter without checking whether there is sufficient space.
This was announced by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in a report published Tuesday on its “operation intersections” aimed particularly at the phenomenon of “deadlock”.
In total, no less than 758 statements of offense were issued during the operation, which was held from March 27 to 31, on several arteries and intersections preceding the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. Most of the fines, 534 of them, were also “given to drivers who blocked intersections”, says the neighborhood station (PDQ) 22, located in the Center-South, which was responsible for the ‘initiative.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Only on Monday, more than a hundred statements of offense had been given to road users, while traffic is low at the start of the week.
“We knew there was a major problem, but we were still very surprised by the high number of infractions,” said PDQ22 leader Krisztina Balogh. It just shows the extremely high potential for violations of the Highway Safety Code that are committed every day during rush hour. »
However, several other reports were submitted for other reasons, in particular for illegal use of a reserved lane (53), prohibited lane change (29), passing a red light (22) or even being immobilized on a pedestrian crossing ( 10), or even the use of a cell phone while driving (10).
An exercise to repeat
The impact of such a monitoring operation is “tangible” in terms of awareness, but in the longer term, “if we want to have a structuring effect, it will surely be necessary to carry out operations of this kind- there, or that we combine other strategies”, affirms the commander Balogh in this sense. “We have to aim for a permanent result, or at least one that will last longer,” she concedes.
With the increase in congestion around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in recent months, there are many actions to take, according to the police officer.
“There are people who preferred to take the tunnel [Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine] before and which are now heading towards the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, due to the work. For the next two or three years, we therefore expect there to be a fluidity problem in the sector. The deadlock comes with it, people are getting impatient and want to force their movements, ”reasoned Mme Balogh.
Last year, in the Centre-Sud district, nearly 500 motorists were pinned for the deadlock only. The phenomenon would also be noticed by “several crossing guards on Sherbrooke Street, who are trying to get children to cross,” says the SPVM.