Speeding on Manitoba roads continues to be one of the top contributing factors in serious and often deadly collisions, with 40 per cent of vehicles found travelling above the posted speed limit in a recent MPI province-wide study.
Of these vehicles, seven percent were travelling more than 10 kilometers above the posted speed limit.
The 2022 study, which included over 1.2 million vehicles at over 50 different urban and rural locations throughout the province, was designed to better understand how frequently drivers were speeding on Manitoba’s roadways. MPI plans to use the findings to improve existing programs and develop new targeted initiatives to reduce speeding.
Preliminary fatal collision data shows that speed was the primary contributing factor in approximately 30 per cent of the fatalities that have occurred on Manitoba roads to date in 2023.
To increase drivers’ awareness of their travelling speeds, MPI has launched a new program that will provide electronic speed display signs to interested municipalities and First Nations. As part of the program, MPI will fund the purchase of up to 35 signs in 2023 and an additional 20 signs in 2024, with no cost to the communities.
A sign much like this is now in Portage la Prairie on Meighen Avenue near Ecole Arthur Meighen School. Although all areas are monitored from time to time, some that are watched more closely by RCMP include school zones, Saskatchewan Avenue, Fisher Avenue, Crescent Road, and 3rd St NE.