Toronto speed cameras have issued hundreds of tickets to municipal employees

It’s not just everyday commuters being caught blowing through red lights or speeding through school zones in Toronto.

The usage of automated speed enforcement cameras isn’t unique to Toronto. A number of municipalities have embraced the technology.

According to a new report going to the City of Toronto’s infrastructure and environment committee, civic vehicles and employees have been getting their share of the tickets. Toronto’s automated cameras caught 456 speeding municipal vehicles.

“Certainly the City needs to set a higher standard for ourselves,” says David Jollimore, the City of Toronto’s general manager of fleet services.

Jollimore tells CityNews they’re setting a goal to drastically cut down on these infractions through Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act, ideally not being issued any tickets moving forward.

There were 456 reported violations between July 2020 and the end of 2021, representing about 0.1 per cent of all infractions. Out of those violations, Jollimore says around 20 per cent were handed out to individuals driving Toronto Community Housing staff vehicles.

RELATED: City releases automated speed enforcement data, same vehicle caught 27 times by 3 cameras

While no City of Toronto employees have been fired due to these speeding tickets, Jollimore confirms three municipal workers have had their vehicles taken away.

In October, the City revealed more than 36,000 speeders were caught and 36,700 tickets were issued in July and August through Toronto’s automatic speed enforcement cameras.

A month later, it was determined that Toronto’s 50 automated speed enforcement cameras issued more than 21,000 tickets in September — an increase over the previous two months in which more than 18,000 tickets were printed.

More than 400 repeat offenders caught by Mississauga speed cameras

Staff with the City of Mississauga say more than 4,800 tickets were issued in the last quarter of 2021 through the usage of similar speed cameras.

Data released by that municipalities on Thursday revealed 451 repeat offenders and one vehicle was captured eight times.

Between August and December, 12 cameras located throughout Mississauga issued 4,827 tickets – almost 91 per cent of the total since the program began in July.

Earlier in the week, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) disclosed daunting statistics that showed speeding- and aggressive-related driving deaths reached the highest level in a decade during 2021.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said on Wednesday 81 people tragically lost their lives in speed-related fatalities. He said 315 people died on Ontario roads in 2021, a three-per-cent increase compared to the year before.