JANUARY 19, 1996
PHOTO RADAR PROPAGANDA WAR HEATS UP

VANCOUVER -- Photo radar cameras make their debut on B.C. roads in the
next six weeks.  However, many of the government and ICBC statistics
concerning speed and the use of photo radar have been exposed as
incorrect.

In yet another attempt to convince the public that 'Speed is Killing Us'
and therefore photo radar is necessary, ICBC has launched a direct
attack on the heart-strings of B.C. motorists.

In the face of escalating opposition to photo radar from an increasingly
informed public, ICBC's latest ads are designed to stir emotions and
make it politically incorrect to oppose photo radar.  The ads are based
on statements like "if anyone objects, they should explain why - to a
victim's loved one, at the morgue," and "Some people might object. But
listening to their concerns is easier than hearing their anguished
screams in the emergency room."

S.E.N.S.E. co-founder Ian Tootill said Friday, "ICBC and the provincial
government know that we are able to tear their numbers to shreds and that
we have exposed their misinformation and half-truths. So now they will
follow the methods the camera manufacturer suggests, and sell the program
on an emotional level. It is unacceptable that ICBC should spend millions
of dollars of our money to brainwash and scare us in this manner."

ICBC recently funded and published a study of fatally injured drivers
where speed was a factor.  They found that 66% of the drivers had drugs
or alcohol in their system.  S.E.N.S.E. is concerned that photo radar
will do little to persuade these high-risk drivers to stay off the road.
In fact the very opposite may occur as drivers using drugs or alcohol
realize that police officers are less inclined to apprehend them for
tell-tale symptoms such as excessive speeding.

S.E.N.S.E. Director of Research Michael Cain said Friday, "I think ICBC
is going to have a difficult time explaining to a victim's family why
they have a nice photo of the speeding vehicle that was not apprehended
by police - especially when ICBC's own research shows that two-thirds of
drivers killed, where unsafe speed was a factor, had drugs or alcohol
in their system."