Claiming to better target their interventions, Montreal police officers are giving almost half as many tickets to delinquent motorists, cyclists and pedestrians as they were five years ago.
In 2023, officers of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) distributed 340,615 tickets. This is the lowest total in more than ten years, if we exclude the exceptional year of 2020, strongly marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just five years earlier, in 2018, these same police officers handed out 624,526 tickets.
“[Depuis 2021], we have changed our philosophy of intervention in terms of road safety. We adopt an approach that is more qualitative than quantitative,” explains Commander Michel Lebrun, responsible for road safety at the SPVM.
“By targeting reckless and dangerous behavior, we think we can have a better effect on the road toll,” he continues.
The commander affirms that the priority is the “protection of vulnerable customers”, recalling the sad toll of 20 pedestrian deaths in 2022. In 2023, the toll is 16 deaths.
The 10 most frequent offenses
2021-2023
| rank | offense | occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PROHIBITED PARKING | 104,309 |
| 2 | Vehicle immobilized in a prohibited stopping zone | 72,867 |
| 3 | Speeding (30 km/h zone) | 63,155 |
| 4 | Speeding (50 km/h zone) | 62,398 |
| 5 | Stop not performed | 55,610 |
| 6 | Red light not respected | 52,230 |
| 7 | Not having the insurance certificate with you | 39,030 |
| 8 | Left turn prohibited | 35,201 |
| 9 | Speeding (40 km/h zone) | 32,297 |
| 10 | Obligation to go straight not respected | 27,317 |
Accident-prone areas
According to three police sources, it is rather the lack of personnel and the end of the road safety squads, in 2019, which are causing the drop in the number of reports.
“We lost control of traffic in Montreal,” says one of them who is not authorized to speak publicly.
Until March 2019, 80 police officers were only assigned to providing tickets. Today, they are in neighborhood stations and have to respond to other calls or monitor construction sites.
Commander Lebrun affirms for his part that the police are concentrated in more sensitive locations.
“We target accident-prone intersections where there is a predominance of collisions,” he emphasizes.
Commander Michel Lebrun, responsible for road safety at the SPVM.
Ben Pelosse / JdeM
Avoid letting go
The general director of Piétons Québec, Sandrine Cabana-Degani, is worried about possible neglect.
“Since the pandemic, we feel that there is less courtesy on the road, that there is a lot of impatience,” she notes.
Source: Montreal City Police Department
However, she considers it difficult to measure whether the drop in the number of fines has an impact on the increase in dangerous behavior.
“The impact of police presence is quite debated,” explains Nicolas Saunier, professor at Polytechnique Montréal and road safety expert.
On the other hand, the impact of photo radar is well documented.
“The literature is clear on the subject, it lowers speeds, and when we lower speeds, we improve road safety,” he says.
On the streets of Montreal, however, there are only around ten photo radars and three red light monitoring devices.
Less money
The drop in the number of fines affects all road users as well as the coffers of the City of Montreal.
In 2022, Montreal received $13 million less in ticket revenue than in 2018, while the amount of several parking and immobilization fines increased significantly, even quadrupling.
The number of reports submitted by parking agents increased by around 5% between 2018 and 2023 to stand at just over a million.
Fines that have increased
