Automated speed cameras might be controversial among some Greater Sudbury residents, but results released by the city show they are working as intended.
Since March 2024, six speed cameras have been set up around the city to catch people driving too fast. They are moved to new locations every four months.
Speeding tickets are sent to the vehicle owners by mail within 30 days.
Data shows that wherever the cameras are set up, average driving speeds go down significantly.
“Data collected from August to December 2024 indicates speed cameras significantly reduce both the percentage of vehicles speeding and their operating speeds,” the city said in a news release Thursday morning.
Biggest drops in speeding
Before the speed camera was set up on Municipal Road 80 in McCrea Heights, 90 per cent of vehicles were travelling faster than 15 km/h over the limit.
That number was reduced to just three per cent, with the average operating speed decreasing from 89 km/h to just above the limit of 60 km/h.
The speed camera placed on Garson-Coniston Road saw the average operating speed reduced from 73 km/h to 53 km/h and a 66 per cent reduction in the number of drivers travelling more than 15 km/h over the limit.
Minnow Lake
Of the four speed cameras in the Minnow Lake area, the one located on Bancroft Drive near Carmichael Arena caught no one travelling more than 15 km/h over the limit.
Before the speed camera, 28 per cent of vehicles travelled more than 15 km/h over the limit in that area, with an average operating speed of 65 km/h.
While the speed camera was in place, the average operating speed was just under the posted limit at 48 km/h.
Three other Minnow Lake area locations also saw reductions of vehicles travelling more than 15 km/h over the limit.
Howie Drive and Bancroft Drive near Levesque Street dropped from 48 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, to just one per cent.
Both locations also saw significant reductions in average operating speeds, decreasing from 68 km/h and 65 km/h to just more than the posted limit of 50 km/h.
Moonlight Avenue went from 42 per cent of vehicles travelling more than 15 km/h over the limit to just two per cent while the camera was in place.
The average operating speed on that road went from 68 km/h to 52 km/h.
New locations
The speed cameras have been set up in new location last week and will be activated Jan. 29.
Here is where they will be located:
- Second Avenue from Scarlett Road to Bancroft Drive in Minnow Lake
- Hawthorne Drive from Barry Downe Road to Auger Avenue in New Sudbury
- Countryside Drive from Countryside Drive to Algonquin Road in the South End
- Loach’s Road from Regent Street to Oriole Drive in the South End
- Notre Dame Street West from Rayside Avenue to Marier Street in Azilda
- Valleyview Road from MR80 to Fournier Drive in Val Caron
Drivers will not receive any demerit points from the Ministry of Transportation if they receive a ticket and it will not impact their driving record, the city said.
