The garage
Got speed?
STEVE SILVA
Cops cowering behind their radar guns in “random” police speed traps — ah, the sights and sounds of summer in Manitoba. It seems like once the snow leaves us and winter’s icy grip of death has let go, another force takes over: the long arm of the law. You recognize them — they’re the folks who protect us from danger. And what better way to do that than to give you a speeding ticket? Why the city wastes police time on speed traps when we already have red light cameras I’ll never know. Doesn’t the good old police force have anything better to do than harass people? Ever wonder why the police show up at the scene of a crime six hours late? It’s because they were too busy giving me a ticket for going with the flow of traffic in a 50 km/h zone.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning speeding. I’m not for that kind of stupidity. I’d be all for speed traps if they actually caught speeders. Where are the cops when a guy who looks like Bob Vila driving a 1992 Corolla passes me doing a buck- sixty on a residential? These traps are only efficient at catching the average young adult who just so happens to be a little late for work. The cops never catch the real bandits, and more often than not, us young people are at the mercy of police stereotyping. I can’t even count the times my friends and I have been pulled over for “talks.” Every time I see a car getting pulled over it’s always a teenager, and never the do-gooder 40-year-old guy in his Corolla. Think this is just a conspiracy theory of mine? Where’s my proof? The next time you’re watching the news and there is a car accident being covered, notice how the police make a point of pointing out the age of the driver if they are a teenager and never mention the age if it’s an older adult.
How does all this affect you? Last year and the year prior (and most likely again this year too) police have set up a speed trap on University Crescent. Like clockwork, they are usually there between 3-5 p.m. two to three times a week during the spring, summer, and fall. Now answer me this: what purpose does this so-called “to serve and protect” mantra provide? Well, maybe I should see things from the Winnipeg Police Services point of view. After all, I can’t think of a more hardened criminal than your runof- the-mill, hard-working university student. When a cop hands a student a ticket for going 60 in a 50 zone, have the police really made our streets safer? Forget the gangs and the drugrunners, the university student who was in a hurry to get home so that he/ she could quickly change and drive to his/her second job to pay for school — breaking the speed limit by 10 clicks in the process — is a hardened criminal indeed. Definitely one that must be dealt with. Bravo Winnipeg police, you’ve done grand!
No, I haven’t been caught by the police trap on University Crescent (so don’t think this is just a selfish rant), but I’ve seen tons of people I know and other innocents get caught and I’m sick of it. It’s not a matter of why the city does this — that one is easy: ticket revenues are a nice cash cow. However, this article isn’t a shot at the officers themselves; they’re just doing their jobs. This is a shot at the system, which needs to either be stopped or improved upon. If you want to set up more speed traps then fine, but you have to give me something in return. And what do I want?
A higher speed limit would solve all of these problems. There is no reason University Crescent and other “residential” streets should have a limit of 50 km/h, and 100 km/h on the highway. Have you ever tried driving 100 km/h through Saskatchewan? My point exactly. Our neighbours to the south have speed limits of 130 km/h on their highways, and people are a lot better off. So set every street that is 50 km/h to 60 km/h, every street that is 60 km/h to 70 km/h, every street that is 80 km/h to 100 km/h, and the highways should be bumped up to 130 or 140 km/h. Not sure of your skill behind the wheel? Fine, take the right lane on the highway and drive whatever speed you want, or take a driving course and improve your skills. Increased speed limits would give people incentive to follow the speed limit because it would then be a reasonable number.
With new speed limits in place, I could actually understand why the police would want to set up speed traps. Anyone who broke those speed limits would then deserve to be caught and dealt with. A speed limit increase wouldn’t be that unattainable. All I want is a simple rule change that would make everyone safer and keep the police busy with what’s really important: crime! So how about it Jack Ewatski and the rest of the Winnipeg police, is it a deal?
