May is "High Risk Driving Awareness Month" in B.C., and it appears to be off to a good start in terms of getting excessive speedsters off the road.
RCMP nabbed one driver in Port Coquitlam's light industrial area last night (May 1) on Day 1 of the campaign, and shared it publicly as a reminder that police are out enforcing local speed limits in the Tri-Cities.
The driver of the apparent mid-size sedan reached 102 km/h in a 50 zone near the intersection of Broadway Street and Industrial Avenue at around 6:50 p.m. on Monday.
They were issued a $386 fine for excessive speeding and their vehicle has been impounded for seven days, which could be extended depending on the driver's history per the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act (MVA)
Enhanced enforcement
In the last High Risk Driving Awareness Month, in May 2022, Coquitlam RCMP issued nearly 260 violation tickets, including 205 for speeding, accounting for an average of roughly eight slips written per day.
Spokesperson Cpl. Alexa Hodgins is reminding Tri-Cities drivers that more traffic enforcement officers will be out and about, reiterating the importance of slowing down, obeying speed limits and being aware of other vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
"Speed is the number one contributing factor for car crash fatalities," she said in a statement to the Tri-City News.
"Coquitlam RCMP will be conducting enhanced enforcement aimed at educating the public and targeting high risk driving behaviour — specifically speeding.
As well, 47 of the tickets issued last May were for distracted driving, which is the second leading cause of fatalities from motor vehicle collisions in the province.
Coquitlam RCMP's latest data available showed 464 traffic violation tickets were issued in February during its High Accident Zone (HAZE) and High Visibility enforcement (HZE) initiatives.
Officers were primarily set up along Lougheed Highway (7) and the Mary Hill Bypass (7B), and even gave the public advance notice for its other locations.
The initiatives began Jan. 8 as part of RCMP's outreach about the consequences of poor driving behaviour, including those for speed, distracted driving, impaired driving, invalid licenses and failing to wear seat belts.
PoCo industrial area crashes
Meanwhile, ICBC said there were 18 known crashes at Broadway Street and Industrial Avenue between 2017 and 2021, which included property damage, injuries or deaths.
A total of 886 collisions took place in that same span between that intersection and Broadway and the Mary Hill Bypass (7B), considered one of B.C.'s most dangerous intersections from 2021.
There were also 1,190 known motor vehicle crashes in a four-block radius of Port Coquitlam's light industrial area in the last five years.
That's south of Kingsway Avenue, west of Coast Meridian Road, north of Highway 7B and east of Broadway Street (see image below).
Across the Lower Mainland, 32 people died in 2021 from collisions when excessive speed was a factor.
