The Montreal police are these days handing out tickets by the ton near the Jacques-Cartier bridge. Objective: to end the blocking of traffic by certain motorists who enter an intersection without checking whether there is sufficient space. For a commander in the sector, the phenomenon is a real scourge.
“Here, what we call deadlock, it’s really very recurrent. People do not look before crossing if there is enough space in front to free the intersection, ”says the head of the neighborhood station (PDQ) 22 in the Center-South, Krisztina Balogh.
“Things like this pose significant dangers for everyone, including motorists themselves, but also pedestrians and cyclists who then try to evade the vehicle. With spring coming, the risks are even greater,” she explains in the same breath.
Since Monday, patrol officers have been carrying out a “visibility operation” on several sections of the quadrilateral leading to the Jacques-Cartier bridge between the Papineau, Lorimier, Sherbrooke and Notre-Dame axes. This operation will continue until Friday.
On Monday alone, more than a hundred tickets were issued to road users, “while traffic is low at the start of the week,” says Ms. Balogh. “We expect to deliver even more until Friday,” she said.
“It’s not just findings that we distribute. After the arrest, we also give people cards on which we explain the offense, the problem, and why we are there. Our long-term wish is to change mentalities and make our roads safer, ”continues the commander.
On these cards, of which La Presse had a copy, we can read in particular: “You have been intercepted as part of a police operation aimed at the fluidity of traffic. The safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers is also your concern. »
It should be understood that last year, in the Centre-Sud district, nearly 500 motorists were pinned for deadlock only.
So far in 2023, in less than three months, around 130 of them have been fined for the same reason. “All of this is without counting all the other violations that we detect around a deadlock situation. This is really a big problem,” insists Krisztina Balogh.
She claims that the phenomenon is also noticed by “several crossing guards on Sherbrooke Street, who are trying to get children to cross”. “It doesn’t make sense that these people have to go around cars on a pedestrian crossing dedicated to them,” said the policewoman.
Ultimately, she insists, such surveillance blitzes make a long-term difference. “We’re really taking advantage of it to educate everyone. It is a constant work of education. These five days, basically, are to convince people to be a little more patient. Anyway, everyone is caught in the congestion, “concludes the commander of PDQ 22.
