The fight against radar
Donation protected
My name is Jack Shultz, I am a proud Albertan and loving father.
Ensuring the safety of my family is the most important duty I have as a responsible citizen. Just like you, my daily life involves plenty of driving and sadly, our roads are not getting any safer.
You may have noticed the increase in photo radar in our city, you might have also received a ticket. You are not alone. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of photo radar operations in Edmonton in recent years. As a matter of fact, there are now more photo radar operations (aka speed traps) in Edmonton than in any other Canadian city.
The reason behind this increase, according to the City, has been public safety. It was thought that by increasing the number of speed traps, drivers would slow down. This has not been the case and in reality, traffic incidents have increased year over year.
More photo radar means more fines paid to the government – around $50 million last year to be exact. Here is the harsh truth: since 2013, the Edmonton Police service is no longer operating our photo radar program - it has been taken over directly by the City of Edmonton. For over three years, the municipal government has collected millions of dollars in fines and in that time they have not made the roads any safer.
Speed traps in our city are currently setup to give tickets to people travelling just 6-10 kilometers over the posted limit. These are not bad drivers who need to be reprimanded. They are mostly people who are going about their daily lives and happened to be a bit over the limit for whatever reason. This small infraction can result in a fine of as much as $110.
The best way to improve road safety is to increase the number of traffic police who can recognize the difference between a bad driver and someone just running a bit late for work.
Over the past five months, I have devoted hundreds of hours of my time to bring awareness to this issue. I have engaged in peaceful protests alerting drivers to speed traps and warning them to slow down. In my experience this has proven to be a much better solution. I have been amazed at the support I have received so far from people who care about their safety and the safety of our roads.
Increasing awareness of this issue is the first step we need to take. My group, known as the Edmonton Cash Cows, have been organizing peaceful citizen protests to alert drivers about photo radar speed traps. We have met some resistance but the reaction overall has been very positive. We can see the public’s attention and awareness of this issue increasing.
The work our group does requires time, dedication and many resources. With your support in the form of donations to this campaign, we can make our resources more available to everyone through literature, media, signs and events. We can also help establish a legal fund to help defend our rights and those of our volunteers. We can begin to petition the City and organize a powerful movement for change.
Every dollar counts, we accept any contribution big or small.
Together we can make a difference.
Thank you and God Bless
Jack Shultz
Ensuring the safety of my family is the most important duty I have as a responsible citizen. Just like you, my daily life involves plenty of driving and sadly, our roads are not getting any safer.
You may have noticed the increase in photo radar in our city, you might have also received a ticket. You are not alone. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of photo radar operations in Edmonton in recent years. As a matter of fact, there are now more photo radar operations (aka speed traps) in Edmonton than in any other Canadian city.
The reason behind this increase, according to the City, has been public safety. It was thought that by increasing the number of speed traps, drivers would slow down. This has not been the case and in reality, traffic incidents have increased year over year.
More photo radar means more fines paid to the government – around $50 million last year to be exact. Here is the harsh truth: since 2013, the Edmonton Police service is no longer operating our photo radar program - it has been taken over directly by the City of Edmonton. For over three years, the municipal government has collected millions of dollars in fines and in that time they have not made the roads any safer.
Speed traps in our city are currently setup to give tickets to people travelling just 6-10 kilometers over the posted limit. These are not bad drivers who need to be reprimanded. They are mostly people who are going about their daily lives and happened to be a bit over the limit for whatever reason. This small infraction can result in a fine of as much as $110.
The best way to improve road safety is to increase the number of traffic police who can recognize the difference between a bad driver and someone just running a bit late for work.
Over the past five months, I have devoted hundreds of hours of my time to bring awareness to this issue. I have engaged in peaceful protests alerting drivers to speed traps and warning them to slow down. In my experience this has proven to be a much better solution. I have been amazed at the support I have received so far from people who care about their safety and the safety of our roads.
Increasing awareness of this issue is the first step we need to take. My group, known as the Edmonton Cash Cows, have been organizing peaceful citizen protests to alert drivers about photo radar speed traps. We have met some resistance but the reaction overall has been very positive. We can see the public’s attention and awareness of this issue increasing.
The work our group does requires time, dedication and many resources. With your support in the form of donations to this campaign, we can make our resources more available to everyone through literature, media, signs and events. We can also help establish a legal fund to help defend our rights and those of our volunteers. We can begin to petition the City and organize a powerful movement for change.
Every dollar counts, we accept any contribution big or small.
Together we can make a difference.
Thank you and God Bless
Jack Shultz
Organizer
Jack Shultz
Organizer
Edmonton, AB
