Windsor No. 2 for speed traps in N. America

Windsor, Ont., has the second highest number of speed traps in North America, according to the National Motorists Association.

Windsor is the top Canadian city, second only to Livonia, Mich., in an annual list of the top 25 cities with speed trap locations, based on a per capita ranking.

Gary Biller, executive director of the National Motorists Association, said it isn't a definitive survey and that the informal ranking is based on the number of people reporting speed traps on the organization's website.

"Coming up to the Labour Day weekend people kind of check their travel routes a little bit more and again, drivers who can anticipate rather than react suddenly noticing a police cruiser on the side — it's safer for everybody to do that — so it's more of a public awareness feature," Biller told CBC Windsor's Early Shift host.

Biller identified Dougall Avenue near the southwest end of the city as the spot where police camp out the most. The National Motorists Association is based in Wisconsin.

Brian Ducharme, a lawyer who defends people charged with speeding, agrees that Windsor has a lot of speed traps.

"I see the police using black unmarked pickup trucks which is not typical of police and as a result I see them stopping people," said Ducharme.

The city gets a share of speeding ticket revenues but the police don't, said Police Chief Gary Smith.

Smith said they're not under any pressure to step up enforcement to make more money and he doesn't believe police are overzealous. He said they stake out areas where speeding occurs the most.

"We try to match our enforcement to high accident areas or where the speed is just ridiculous," Smith said.

Smith said enforcement is only up two per cent over last year and the police haven't received any complaints about speeding tickets.

"Fatal accidents — last year I think there were only two. We were only one this year. Our total persons injured as a result of motor vehicle collisions is down 25 per cent," he said.

But Ducharme still believes the speed limits in the city are pegged too low.

"I see some areas where they've reduced it from 50 [km/h] to 40, so that's too low," Ducharme said.

Smith said speed limits are slower in places because of school zones or reduced visibility on the roads.