For five days, Montreal police issued nearly 800 statements of offense last week near the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, as part of a “surveillance blitz” aimed at deterring the blocking of intersections by certain motorists who enter without checking whether there is sufficient space.
This was announced by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in a report published Tuesday on its “operation intersections” aimed particularly at the phenomenon of “deadlock”.
In total, no less than 758 statements of offense were issued during the operation, which was held from March 27 to 31, on several arteries and intersections preceding the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. Most of the fines, 534 of them, were also “given to drivers who blocked intersections”, says the neighborhood station (PDQ) 22, located in the Center-South, which was responsible for the ‘initiative.
On Monday alone, more than a hundred statements of offense had been given to road users, while traffic is low at the start of the week.
“We knew there was a major problem, but we were still very surprised by the high number of infractions,” said PDQ22 leader Krisztina Balogh. It just shows the extremely high potential for violations of the Highway Safety Code that are committed every day during rush hour. »
However, several other reports were submitted for other reasons, in particular for illegal use of a reserved lane (53), prohibited lane change (29), passing a red light (22) or even being immobilized on a pedestrian crossing ( 10), or even the use of a cell phone while driving (10).
The impact of such a surveillance operation is “tangible” in terms of awareness, but in the longer term, “if we want to have a structuring effect, it will surely be necessary to carry out operations of this kind- there, or combining other strategies,” says Commander Balogh. “We have to aim for a permanent result, or at least one that will last longer,” she concedes.
With the increase in congestion around the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in recent months, there are many actions to take, according to the police officer.
“There are people who preferred to take the [Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine] tunnel before and who are now heading for the Jacques-Cartier bridge, because of the work. For the next two or three years, it is therefore expected that there will be a problem of fluidity in the sector. The deadlock comes with it, people get impatient and want to force their movements,” Ms. Balogh reasons.
Last year, in the Centre-Sud district, nearly 500 motorists were pinned for deadlock only. The phenomenon would also be noticed by “several crossing guards on Sherbrooke Street, who are trying to get children to cross,” says the SPVM.