‘It’s chaos’: Drivers say speed trap on NW Calgary highway causing more harm than good

If you’ve noticed more Drive Safe vehicles around Calgary lately, you’re not alone.

The bright yellow signs on Calgary police photo radar vehicles are hard to miss, but drivers tell CityNews that their placement in one particular section of the city is causing more harm than good.

The stretch of 16 Avenue NW approaching Stoney Trail from the west has a lot of drivers scratching their heads and slamming on the brakes.

It’s a section where the posted speed goes from 110 km/h to 80 km/h, and then to 60 km/h to exit south onto Stoney Trail.

For the last several months police have had Drive Safe vehicles parked along that exit. Despite the bright yellow signage on the cruisers, drivers believe the speed trap is more of a cash grab than a safety measure.

“Everyone sees them and they brake pretty abruptly,” says Sufiyan Fahim. “This is traffic moving at 110, and then the car in front of you just brakes.”

“I’ve seen cars very close to collisions.”

Carly Hill drives that stretch on a regular basis and says the posted speed on the Stoney exit is far too slow to support the flow of traffic.

She also thinks the Drive Safe signage is misleading since officers aren’t enforcing the rules of the road, and instead generating ticket after ticket in a place that doesn’t follow typical highway speed limits.

“I have had people who have been tailgating me and flashing their brights at me, and then they see the car and they realize. And then they slam on the brakes,” she says.

“I think it’s chaos and I don’t think it’s making that road any safer.”

Calgary police say they are not able to confirm the breakdown of revenue from that particular section since it is lumped in with the province.

In a statement, CPS says automated traffic enforcement is intended to get vehicles to slow down in areas that are deemed high-risk for serious injury.

The city launched the visible photo radar vehicles in December 2022.