Editor:
Am I the only one who sees the futility in all the police work put into enforcing the speed limit in BNP when speeding infractions rose 78 per cent (RMO 13/09/05 – RCMP issue 700 speeding tickets) over the same period one year ago. One need not have graduated from a place of high learning to see the penalty does not fit the crime or that it serves as any deterrent whatsoever.
Cpl. Chris Blandford cites Traffic Safety Act fines for “driving 50 km/h over the speed limit,” “top out” at $351. That abuser fee structure is not adequate, and is laughed at by most abusers.
In the same issue of RMO, we are reminded on page 19, that Canmore Bylaw Services, local RCMP and Canadian Pacific Police Service officers “conduct regular trespassing patrols” of railroad property running through town and that the fine for crossing that line is $287. That number is similar to the fine most folks get for driving 20 km/h over the limit on our roads – risking life and limb. Does anyone else see the stupidity of this?
The fact of the matter is that that level of occurrence and severity of violation on the roads does not just occur on holiday weekends – it happens unabated every day of the year, 24 hours a day, by everyone from heavily laden transport trucks, tourists buses, rental vehicles of every type, local service vehicles, and everything in between. Virtually none have any respect for the rule of the road, or what BNP or public roads represent.
I further note it takes 16 people to produce this paper. Amazingly – proportionately there are not that many more people operating out of the Banff RCMP detachment with a mandate to bring law and order to the roads, and the general community.
Does anyone really want to stop the lawbreakers, or is the annual campaign staged to top up the treasury, and one week later provide another depressing newspaper article telling us where law and order is heading in society today?
Alvin Shier
Canmore, Alberta
