Possibly it was the good summer weather, but leadfoot motorists were out in full force on area highways, last weekend (Aug. 1-4).
Last weekend, the Bow Valley Integrated Traffic Services Unit of RCMP and sheriffs wrote 819 charges; 786 of them for speeding. That number eclipses the total from the Heritage Day weekend in 2013, when 397 charges were written.
Along with speeding tickets, two drivers received careless driving charges and one lost his licence due to drug consumption.
“We were really busy last weekend,” said RCMP Cpl. Chris Blandford, Tuesday (Aug. 5). “We’ve promised we’re going to be aggressive with enforcement and we’ll be out in force for the Labour Day weekend too.”
Despite the overall high number of speeders, Blandford said the only positive was that the number of drivers clocked at 50 km/h over the speed limit had dropped by nine.
Still, a woman in an XJ Jaguar topped the weekend’s speeding parade in doing 160 km/h in the national park (70 km/h over).
“Overall, the number of speeders was incredibly high,” said Blandford. “A lot of people seemed to be in a rush to get where they were going and I think maybe people saw forecasts of warm temperatures for the weekend.
“It’s pretty typical for the Trans-Canada. A lot of people think they’ll go at their own speed no matter what the signs or rules say. Or maybe they forget they’re in a national park.”
Over the past couple of years, Blandford said he’s noticed a trend in that most speeders are to be found westbound. Typically, he said, the Friday of a long weekend sees large numbers of vehicles headed west, “but on the Monday, everybody’s heading home on the last day.
“To some extent the volume of traffic regulates itself on the Mondays. Monday night, though, from 10 p.m. to midnight, was like a personal speedway for a lot of people.
“I don’t know if people are late getting home, or they may feel enforcement may be down, but it won’t be. On Labour Day, we’re going to continue to be aggressive and we’ll be out in force.”
