FEBRUARY 10, 1997  
EXPECT "BACK ROOM" PHOTO RADAR DEAL BETWEEN PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND CITIES 

VANCOUVER -- The BC motorists' advocacy group SENSE believes the current 
squabble between Vancouver City Council and the Provincial Government will be 
politely resolved through a revenue sharing agreement, leaving motorists 
trapped between two revenue hungry levels of government.
 
SENSE Executive Director, Ian Tootill, says that "pulling the plug on the 
photo radar program was a clever tactical move by the city of Vancouver.  
Since Vancouver's participation is crucial, the NDP has two options: one is to 
force participation -- thus proving that the 'community' basis of the program 
is a sham, two is to bribe the cash-strapped local governments."  SENSE 
believes that the NDP will choose the latter.
 
In April, 1995, Ian Tootill wrote several MLA's, including then Minister of 
Transportation and Highways Jackie Pement, expressing concerns that 
municipalities in B.C. would abuse motorists if allowed to keep speeding fine 
revenue.  Ironically, prior to the introduction of photo radar, the NDP 
introduced legislation preventing municipalities from keeping ticket revenue, 
thus directing all money to general revenue.
 
Certain U.S. cities are known as "speed-traps" and tourists are regularly 
warned to stay away.  SENSE maintains that the motorists and taxpayers of B.C. 
would be the real losers when revenue sharing is adopted.  It should be noted 
that the B.C. Liberal party endorses giving 75 per cent of photo radar revenue 
to the municipalities.
 
Recent reports about photo radar revenue falling short due to a lack of 
speeders fail to recognize that the officers seconded to the photo radar unit 
are monitoring speeding drivers less than one hour per shift (based upon 95
officers).
 
Tootill speculates that sometime after April, once the system's technical and 
contractual problems are fully resolved, Victoria will start to "crank-out" 
photo radar tickets.  The NDP projected $65 million in revenue in the first 
full year of operation.
 
The media and public can access additional information on the "News" page of 
the SENSE web-site at http://sense.bc.ca
 
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SENSE is a not-for-profit society dedicated to improving road safety and the 
elimination of the photo radar tax-grab disguised as a safety initiative.  It 
urges a comprehensive approach to traffic safety including tough, European-
style licensing requirements as a means of making the province's roads safe to 
drive on.