With traffic on area highways expected to increase markedly over the coming weeks and months as more drivers travel in the region for spring and summertime activities, police are hoping those same drivers will keep the speeds down, says Sundre RCMP Cpl. Ryan Hodge.
“Our plan is to focus on speeding,” said Hodge. “That is what we will be focusing on. They can expect to see us out there monitoring speed and any other driving infractions.
“We have a lot of highways that cover a lot of distance. Highway 22 is a major corridor in Alberta and that is typically where we see a lot of high speeds, so we focus on that quite a bit. We see speeding at all times of the year, but there is definitely more traffic and more congestion as we move into summer.”
In conjunction with Alberta Transportation, RCMP detachments in the region will be targeting speeders over the next month as part of a targeted enforcement effort.
More than one in four of the fatalities on Alberta roads over the past year have involved speeding and speeds too great for prevailing road conditions.
“Unsafe speed is a major contributing factor to collisions on our highways. Drivers who speed are placing all road users at risk, as higher speeds require longer stopping distances and increase the force of the impact,” said RCMP superintendent Howard Eaton, the officer in charge of “K” Division (Alberta) Traffic Services.
Speeding reduces the effectiveness of seatbelts and other safety devices such as airbags, increasing the probability of death or injury in a collision, he said.
“Driving even 10 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit affects your ability to slow down or stop with short notice, or steer safely around curves or objects on the road,” he said.
“Heavy rain and/or standing water can also create conditions ideal for hydroplaning, in which a layer of water builds up between the road and tires, affecting a motorist's ability to stop.”
Cpl. Hodge added: “Your reaction times to things you may encounter on the roadways are greatly disadvantaged when you increase your speed.
From 2008 to 2012, 480 people were killed and 12,653 people were injured in speed-related collisions in Alberta.
"They can expect to see us out there monitoring speed." RCMP Cpl. Ryan HodgeSundre detachment
