MPI, police target intersection collisions

THE Winnipeg Police Service is cracking down on speeders at high-collision intersections as part of a new Manitoba Public Insurance initiative.

The intersection enforcement program will focus on speed, adherence to traffic signals and ensuring cars clear intersections before a traffic light changes. MPI said the program recently launched and will continue until late fall, with a goal to reduce road injuries and fatalities.

“Many of these intersection collisions could have been prevented if the drivers adjusted their speed and adhered to the on-site traffic signals,” Satvir Jatana, MPI chief customer officer, said in a news release Monday. “While entering an intersection, the combination of speed and not adhering to a traffic signal, like a traffic light, is potentially fatal.”

The release notes the 10 intersections that recorded the most collisions in Winnipeg between 2016 and 2020. These include Kenaston and McGillivray boulevards (1,217 collisions), Leila Avenue and McPhillips Street (1,179) and Lagimodiere Boulevard and Regent Avenue West (978).

MPI is providing funding for the enforcement, which will also be carried out by Brandon police and the RCMP, in an attempt to reduce the roughly 30,000 intersection collisions that take place in the province every year.