Speeding ticket tally spikes over long weekend on mountain highways
But infractions less extreme, RCMP says
Highways through the mountain parks were very busy over the Victoria Day long weekend as many drivers raced to get to campsites and then back home again.
- Vehicle going over 200 km/h crashes near Canmore, injures 4
- 2 drivers clocked at 200 km/hr west of Calgary
Members of the Bow Valley Integrated Traffic Unit (BVITU) handed out 1,009 speeding tickets over the four days, officials say. During the Victoria Day weekend of 2014, 616 speeding tickets were issued.
"One of the things I was beginning to notice was, although we were catching more speeders, the actual average speed over the limit was actually lower than last year. So hopefully what we're doing out there is starting to have an impact. It's slow, but hopefully," said Corp. Chris Blandford, team leader with BVITU.
Blandford says the average speeder was driving 32 km/h over the speed limit. The top speed clocked was 141 km/h in a 70 km/h zone.
One person received a ticket for distracted driving.
"Well, it's pretty hard to catch distracted drivers on the highway. We see it happening but by the time we get up to them to confirm they were on the phone, well they've already dropped the phone or whatever," said Blandford.
Blandford says, statistically, men between the ages of 20 and 40 years of age are the worst offenders.