‘We are trying to make road safety a priority’: Guelph police report on vehicle noise complaints

“We very much appreciate members of our community taking the time to delegate, to identify areas of concern,” said Chief Gord Cobey, adding to answer the enforcement questions posed, the report identified the area of the Highway Traffic Act regularly used as opposed to bylaw.

The number and types of charges under section 75 of the Highway Traffic Act for the first half of 2023 and all of 2022 were indicated in charts.

In total, there have been 74 charges so far this year, and there were 98 different charges in 2022. These included counts of improper mufflers, no mufflers and unnecessary noise.

During the board meeting held in June, several delegates requested more enforcement and more communication.

“I think I owe it to the community to calibrate expectations with respect to what we are able to do with existing resources,” said Cobey. “We are trying to make road safety a priority and that includes fee enforcement, noise enforcement and a number of other areas in the report.”

He said it’s common for there to only be one dedicated traffic officer working during a shift, and on approximately 60 days last year, there were no traffic officers working.

The report said that traffic officers are also sometimes diverted from traffic-specific duties to supplement front-line members with calls.

The report states that current staffing levels do not align with the increasing demands of the growing community.

Staff Sgt. Michael Davis said that the report was indicative of a comprehensive strategy and that priorities are set with community input in mind.

“We regularly receive complaints about pedestrian crossovers, stop signs and speed. Speed is the number 1 traffic-related complaint,” Davis said.

He said other issues seen are alcohol- and drug-impaired driving and aggressive driving.

“We have many competing priorities that we’re trying to address with the resources we have,” Davis said.

The full report is available at guelphpolice.ca.