Opinion: Why shift into reverse on a safety solution that works?

Monday, October 20, 2025

Geoff Wilkinson, Executive Director, Ontario Traffic Council

Automated speed cameras: a topic hotly debated in the media, the Premier’s office, and I’m sure at many Thanksgiving dinner tables recently. While no one likes receiving a ticket, there’s one thing Ontarians can agree upon: We want to live and raise our kids in a safe community. As an authority in road safety, the Ontario Traffic Council (OTC) is part of a notable list of experts asking the Premier to tweak, not toss, the Automated Speed Enforcement program. 

Premier Ford has said the cameras “do not work,” and that they are just a cash grab. We beg to differ. The evidence is driving our call to action. Studies by SickKids Hospital, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the Canadian Automobile Association show that automated speed enforcement slows drivers down and saves lives. In Ottawa and Toronto, for example, data shows speeding declined significantly the longer the cameras were in place—proof they change driver behaviour. 

Our road safety philosophy is consistent with the World Health Organization’s Speed Management Manual, which calls for countries to “put people and safety, not vehicles, at the centre of mobility systems, with speed management as a key feature.” Our position is evidence based and is principled on the three “E’s” of road safety: Engineering, Education and Enforcement. Automated speed enforcement has proven to curb speeding in school and community safety zones, the very places our children, seniors, and individuals walking, riding, and rolling are most at risk. A pedestrian struck by a vehicle travelling at 50 km/hr is almost six times more likely to be killed than a pedestrian struck at 30 km/hr. There is no disputing the fact that speeding kills. 

The issue is not the existence of cameras. Rather, it is the perception of a lack of fairness and transparency that has led to frustration and confusion. Under the existing ASE framework there may be inconsistencies from municipality to municipality in the speed at which drivers receive a ticket, what day or time of day a camera operates, or the location of a camera in proximity to a school, park, daycare, seniors home, library, etc. Ontarians may have felt taken by surprise. 

More than a decade ago, our working group created an ASE framework that anticipated and addressed these very issues. We continue to work on solutions which the province has not, but could, prescribe. These include threshold speeds and consistent net revenue re-investment into road safety programs. While municipal ASE programs for the most part operate in a responsible, consistent and transparent manner, the OTC's guidelines are being updated to reinforce these principles. 

The Government passed legislation last Spring to allow for more MTO oversight for municipal ASE programs and can do even more to gain public support through simple tweaks to agreements to hold municipalities accountable. The province sets the fines for speeding, lays out where cameras can be deployed and directs the size and wording of signs. The framework the Province created in 2019 can easily be tweaked through the solutions the OTC continues to offer. 

Automated speed enforcement is part of a suite of evidence-based tools used by transportation engineers and road safety professionals to curb speeding. Its use should be considered carefully as all roads and community contexts are unique. We trust our car to a mechanic and our health to a doctor. We want them to do the best job possible and we wouldn’t remove a vital tool from their toolkit. Likewise, transportation engineers and road safety professionals must have all effective tools at their disposal. 

This pivotal moment calls for practical solutions. We ask the legislature to take a calm and considered approach to fix the regulation, or more easily, make some simple changes to municipal agreements. Our organization has no stake in the revenue and seeks only to protect vulnerable Ontarians. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit member association, we’re in a position to offer expert advice - advice we hope the Province will heed. Let’s not shift into reverse on a safety tool that saves lives.