The RCMP town hall on Thursday evening saw the majority of Airdronians voicing concerns over various traffic issues in and around the city. Residents submitted questions both online and posed questions to the RCMP and city councillors in person. 

One Airdrie resident by the name of Jason had concerns over what the RCMP is doing when it comes to dangerous driving, specifically merging. 

“People tend to get a lot of tickets for 10 kilometres over the speed limit, yet I've been run off the road twice. I've watched vehicles that have been run off the road when people merge doing 70 and 80 kilometres throughout all exits in Airdrie; constant problem,” he said.  

He added that he has observed people are either merging too slowly or much too quickly, both of which are in his view dangerous to other drivers. RCMP representatives said that they continue to advocate for immediately calling if they see unsafe driving. 

“What we need from anybody when they're making a complaint, you need to be willing to give a statement and attend court,” said an RCMP officer. “The person observing the offence has to be able to testify to what they saw. A lot of people want to give us the information but they aren't willing to go to court.” 

However, the RCMP also reiterated that merging onto the highway shifts responsibility as highways are a provincial responsibility. 

“Merging in or out of the highway; that’s our provincial unit and our traffic units and then the education comes from the province.” 

Airdrie resident Brandon said that he was a big proponent of education and that he would like to see more educational promos.  

“I'd like to piggyback to a certain degree about the education part. When it comes to that type of education. Is there a social education program for things like that?” 

The RCMP in fact does have what they call a traffic safety calendar which comes out annually, and targets specific things for the year; motorcycle safety, seatbelt safety, and railway safety, among other things.   

“We try and liaise with the city and their social media department to get certain messaging out, like railway safety [which] is a big one for the city with the rail line going by the schools. We're very limited on what we can do locally on social media through the RCMP, so we try and piggyback on our partners in the city of Airdrie and try and get that messaging out there,” the RCMP officer said. 

A recent Ontario transplant, Andy, who recently moved to Airdrie asked what the proper etiquette is for drivers who witness other dangerous or other impaired motorists on the road.  

“I was driving on Stoney Trail and a guy almost hit the broadside of my car. He was either impaired, sleepy or just a terrible driver. I called 911. I got the Calgary police. I followed the driver at a safe distance. I asked Calgary police if they wanted me to continue following and they said it was their policy not to follow. I'm just wondering if it's the same policy with Airdrie RCMP?” he asked. 

For the RCMP, public safety is an utmost priority, hence the advised that following a vehicle one suspects to be impaired or otherwise is not advised. 

“Ideally, nowadays dashcam is the best evidence, but we don't encourage anybody to proactively follow.” 

The issue of evidence of an actual offence was also repeated. 

“For us to actually get the driver we have to find somebody committing the offence, so we have to be able to show up [at that moment].” 

Throughout the evening the RCMP reminded the public that for many traffic offences, the public is always encouraged to call the police, but they have to be cognizant that many traffic violations are summary offences and that in order for there to be consequences for offenders, reporting is only one step in a long process, which is followed by a complainant being willing to go to court and testify to what they witnessed.   

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