This $50,000 automated speed traffic enforcement camera spends half its time on the ground toppled by vandals. Staff photo.
Someone it seems was ticketed and is now taking out their frustrations on an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) traffic camera in Alderwood.
Just about every two weeks the speed-busting auto camera, just west of Orianna Drive on Horner Avenue, is knocked to the ground as City crews dutifully return each time to replace the device to its standing position.
The South Etobicoke News have taken photos of at least six instances in which the steel camera box was shoved to the ground, with its sensitive lens dug into the dirt.
It is October 20 and the expensive ASE is again on its side. No doubt City trucks will show up to place in upright position.
Many thousands of dollars have been spent by the City to keep this Alderwood traffic speed camera upright; and it is toppled again by hooligans.
This has been going on for months and the situation is getting worst as large bolts attaching the machine to concrete and steel are being snapped off as the culprits become more brazen in shoving the camera to the ground.
There are no tire marks or grass being uprooted in the vicinity and it is a mystery how the vandals manage to overturn the heavy boxes.
The City has hired a third-party contractor to repair and replace the ASE cameras.
There are more notorious traffic cams out there like one located on Parkside Drive that issued a whopping 3,502 tickets in one month.
Motorists do not like the automated traffic cams considering one on Parkside Drive issued 3,500 tickets in one month.
The cameras in one month issued a total of 43,412 tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit in designated safety zones.
In June 2022 almost 25,000 tickets were issued to Toronto drivers, and of those 11 per cent were issued by busy Parkside Drive camera.
There are some 75 ASE systems installed on Toronto roads, which generate more than 700,000 charges annually and rake in almost $40 million for City coffers.
The City said that each device costs around $50,000 to operate and maintain annually.