Q&A - Red Light Camera Evidence

red light camera sign I’m hoping you can point me in the right direction. My daughter was grazed by a driver who sped through a red light and I want to know how to get the red light camera evidence to have that driver charged for this.

My daughter feels if she’d have been walking any faster she’d have been hit and likely killed due to the speed at which the car was travelling.

This happened at the intersection of Union Road and Glenmore Road in Kelowna at exactly 10:45 pm as she walked to catch a bus.

I know that intersection has many cameras for running a red light and surely they’d have captured a photo.

Getting the Runaround

I tried to make a police report this morning and was told that the RCMP don’t have access to the cameras and that there was nothing they could do. If I could get ICBC to get me a photo from the camera then I could file a report.

So I called ICBC and they said it was the RCMP who had access to the cameras and not them.

I’m a bit frustrated as this person could have killed my daughter and they are probably out driving around like an idiot still.

Do you have any suggestion as to where I can go to try and get access to the photo or even have someone take me seriously? I’d hate for this driver to hurt someone, and I feel sick to think had my daughter been even a inch closer that she’d have had a very different outcome.

Red Light Cameras

The Intersection Safety Camera Program uses what is commonly known as red light cameras to record speed and red light running violations at certain intersections in the province.

They Are All Involved to Some Extent

According to ICBC, is a joint project involving them, the RCMP and the provincial government.

The provincial government website lists contact information for the program and says that:

Intersection safety camera officers are available to discuss your violation ticket by phone Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at:

Toll free: 1-800-772-8120
Lower Mainland: 604-775-1077

Make an ICBC Injury Claim

I contacted them and was advised that this information would be available. You make an ICBC claim for the incident and advise your claims adjuster that an intersection safety camera may have evidence to support your claim.

The adjuster will contact the ISCP people and request that information. If it exists, it will be given to the adjuster who can then share it with the parties involved.

Information to be Aware of

Be aware of the following:

The intersection involved must have a functioning safety camera
The offending vehicle must be travelling in the direction that the camera is monitoring
The vehicle must trigger the camera by running a red light
The evidence would consist of two images, one of the vehicle before the stop line facing a red light and one of the vehicle in the intersection on the red light.

Sounds Like Work

The answer from the Kelowna Detachment sounds more like "we can't be bothered to do the work" than what is actually possible. I suspect that if the vehicle running the red light was fleeing after a bank robbery the vehicle information would be gathered the same day if it occurred during regular business hours.

Beware the Front Counter

When you make a driving complaint at an RCMP detachment remember that the civilian staff at the front counter are not always fully aware of what is and isn't possible and may attempt to discourage your complaint.

If you are not satisfied, ask politely to speak with an officer and continue your complaint with them.

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Comments & Observations

This item interested me when I noticed it the other day, and either I'm missing something or there are some anomalies and/or misperceptions going on here. Bear with me.

I know that intersection has many cameras for running a red light and surely they’d have captured a photo.

When I looked at the Google image, I wasn't seeing any obvious indications of a red light camera (with or without speed camera device) at the intersection of Union Rd & Glenmore Rd. Sensors that will allow emergency vehicles to affect the light? Sure, in every direction. These things are commonplace on arterials, especially those used frequently by ambulances and fire trucks. But red light cameras? Not so much.

So I took a virtual drive along those roads on Google Earth, just to make sure. No signs. No cameras (in any direction, and usually they would only point them along the busiest road from what I've seen). But hey, Google Maps can't ever be entirely up to date with their imagery (or we would be swamped by Google Earth cars - scary thought) so I went to the Intersection Safety Cameras website, and clicked on Locations (there are five of these in Kelowna - none of them at this intersection, though!

I tried to make a police report this morning and was told that the RCMP don’t have access to the cameras and that there was nothing I could do and that if I could get ICBC to get me a photo from the camera then I could file a report.

So I called ICBC and they said it was the RCMP who had access to the cameras and not them.

Frankly, the RCMP should have known the facts, and pointed these out to the complainant, advising that RSBC are the primary operator/governor of this whole system. ICBC merely act in an advisory role (as they have the means to collect crash information, along with the system to collect fines from vehicle owners, which are then passed on to municipalities).

This happened at the intersection of Union Rd and Glenmore Rd in Kelowna, at exactly 10:45 pm as she walked to catch a bus.

This is an interesting (though vicarious) piece of evidence. No statement has been made about whether there was a sudden FLASH! FLASH!! from a red light camera being triggered (it would have been obvious at that time of the evening). No statement has been made about whether the pedestrian signal was showing a white Pedestrian signal or a Red Hand forbidding entering the crosswalk. Indeed, no statement has been made about the phase of the traffic light, or the general traffic movement at that moment. The only certainty, so to speak, is the exact time of the occurrence. Like it was on somebody's cell phone, or something.

To be absolutely candid, I don't doubt that the young woman just got the shock of her life when this incident occurred. It might be the most important lesson she'll ever learn about paying attention to your surroundings. I don't doubt that the vehicle driver should have obeyed the light, whilst giving consideration to all other road users (including cyclists who could have been approaching that crosswalk), and whether this reasonable consideration for other road users actually happened seems highly circumspect.

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Separately, though, I think it's entirely wrong, a massive error, for RSBC to have been given the authority over red light cameras. As an organization with a history of secrecy (they hide behind FOI all the time, even ICBC, the RCMP, and any member of the general public find it challenging to obtain any information from them about anything) they have already screwed up this whole Intersection Safety Cameras situation in many respects. Such as failure to apportion blame to the driver, for instance. Or turning cameras on or off according to political whims (this has now been corrected, thanks to our free press), though they still haven't made a solid decision on speed camera use with these devices (they're trying to slide it into place so nobody notices, too much).

It would surely be more useful if the authority behind these cameras - including Driver Nomination - was placed under the jurisdiction of the Integrated Road Safety Units governance. It sure as hell shouldn't be influenced by the party in power ...