'Education through ticketing': Cracking down on speeders in Nanton, Alta.

In the month of January, Nanton peace officer Carlos Farias wrote 105 speeding tickets for drivers passing through the town too quickly.

"We need to educate people," Nanton Mayor Jennifer Handley said. "It's getting the word out that Nanton will no longer stand for traffic offences or for speeders."

"Safety is paramount, being a highway community, and we've told our peace officer that this is our top priority, education through ticketing."

In 2022 Nanton started its own peace officer program, taking over from the local municipality. In 2023, two officers wrote a total of 430 tickets.

Farias replaced them in early December 2023 and in January 2024, he wrote a total of 105 tickets.

"We've definitely seen the uptick, and the visibility of him being on the highway," Handley said. "The residents have really appreciated that visibility."

Those residents were tired of with risking their lives when crossing the highway that runs through their town.

Some say it's common for motorists to go 20, 30 or even 40 km/h over the posted speed limit of 50 km/h.

"These are people that are running their businesses, kids crossing the road, seniors with their walkers crossing the road," said Handley.

Northbound and southbound lanes are separated and each run for a two-kilometre stretch.

Farias says he has no problem catching speeders, but finds more in the southbound lanes than in the northbound.

"I don't sit here all day," he said. "I have to do some other things, as well bylaw issues around the town, but every time I park my car here and I point my laser, I catch people speeding."

Farias says his goal is to make the roadway safer for people who live in Nanton and those who stop in for a visit.

He started with the town in December 2023, and says it didn't take long to realize there was a problem with speeders.

"My second day here, I stopped a car who was traveling 100 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, which was almost a criminal amount of speed," he said.

Farias says the majority of the tickets he writes are for drivers travelling more than 70 km/h in town, and the penalty for that is close to $200.

It's money the mayor says could be used for a new peace officer vehicle.

"Being a small town, our budget is limited. We bought a peace officer vehicle that was 10 years old, so certainly that will be in the future for Carlos," said Handley.

"Revenue is just a bonus, but it is not the reason why we do this. It is the education, and it's important that people just stop speeding. Just don't speed."

Handley says close to 500,000 vehicles go through the town monthly.

So far in February, Farias has written 72 tickets and says that number will likely reach 100 by the end of the month.

"I am making a difference here in this town, that's my goal," he said.