The Traffic Unit provides general and specific support in traffic policy direction for this Service. This is accomplished through ongoing activities including:
- Analysis of the traffic activity in the City of Peterborough, Village of Lakefield and the Township of Cavan Monaghan;
- Consultation with members of the community and related agencies;
- Education and training for all members involved in traffic management.
- Identifying goals, objectives and strategies for the Traffic Unit.
- Accident Reconstruction: The Traffic Unit provides an expert level of investigation into a wide range of major traffic incidents and is a technical/information source for all areas of the Service.
- Breath Analysis Technicians provide technical expertise and information in all areas related to impaired driving.
- Selective Traffic Enforcement
The Traffic Unit corresponds with Driver Review and Control and the Ministry of Transportation to request they review drivers licences of those believed to be incompetent to drive.
The ultimate goal of traffic law enforcement is to achieve voluntary compliance by all persons using the highways, so as to reduce collision rates. Enforcement is not based on quotas, but is based on identified needs and resulting from information including:
- High collision locations
- Public complaints and requests
- An officer’s assessment of need
2019 Overview:
The Traffic Services Unit had a challenging year in 2019 due to the low number of members in the Unit as a result of members being off as a result of unforeseen issues. This ultimately had an impact on the success of the monthly traffic initiatives and output of Provincial Offence Notices.
Despite the challenges faced with staffing, the Unit still had a successful year in terms of enforcement and also for personal development and training.
The Traffic Services Unit worked collaboratively with the City of Peterborough Traffic Department to strategically target streets for speeding within the City of Peterborough. This involved the use of the City’s mobile speed trailer to identify problem times and areas and proactive enforcement from the police. This resulted in lowering the speeds on the involved streets at the conclusion of the project.
Up until the end of November 2019, the following data was available in relation to collisions that occurred within the City of Peterborough, Village of Lakefield and the Township of Cavan Monaghan.
Of note, total collisions are down 4.2%, collisions involving injuries are down 12.8% and pedestrian injuries are down 20.4%. These are positive and significantly relevant statistics that can be attributed to enforcement by members of our Service.
In 2019, members of the Traffic Services Unit attended various courses and seminars including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Centre of Forensic Science Breath and Drug Conference and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation Seminar.