The Regional Municipality of Durham has announced it will be reducing the speed limit on Brock Street to 40 kilometres an hour (kmh) in collaboration with the Town of Whitby to convert the Port Whitby area to an area wide 40 kmh zone.
All Regional Roads posted as 40 kmh will be co-designated as community safety zones and permit the use of automated speed enforcement (ASE). The Region of Durham’s ASE program works by capturing images of vehicles that exceed the posted limit. The pictures are stored and reviewed by a Provincial Offences Act Officer and, if warranted, a notice of the offence (fine) will be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle within 30 days, with no demerit points issued. Fines are only given to vehicles travelling over the speed limit.
Where: Brock Street from Victoria Street to Water Street in Whitby.
When: The speed limit reduction signs are expected to be installed before September 3. Unfavourable weather conditions may impact the installation schedule.
Why: The speed limit reduction aims to improve safety for all road users. Aggressive driving, including speeding, was identified as one of eight emphasis areas in Durham’s Vision Zero Strategic Road Safety Action Plan, which aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate all fatalities and injuries caused by collisions on our road system.
Speed is a contributing factor in approximately one-third of fatal collisions in Canada. Reducing speed is one of the best ways to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions in our community. Speed limits are not guidelines – they are laws, said a region statement.