Coquitlam RCMP records 1,600 tickets on Mary Hill Bypass in 2023

Coquitlam RCMP issued more than 1,600 tickets on the Mary Hill Bypass in 2023, making the freeway the most frequent spot for driving violations among all targeted areas by the police force in the Tri-Cities. 

In total, the local RCMP dolled out 1,666 violation tickets — offences that include running a red light, excessive speeding or driving without insurance — along the Mary Hill Bypass over the past year, according to statistics from a press release on Dec. 29. 

The release was published six days after Coquitlam RCMP impounded a delivery truck that was caught travelling at 115 kilometres per hour in a 60 kilometre zone on the Mary Hill Bypass. 

Using data from ICBC, Alexa Hodgins, Coquitlam RCMP’s media relations officer, wrote in an email to the Dispatch that the Mary Hill Bypass has had one of the highest number of crashes resulting in deaths or injuries in the region. 

There were 170 crashes recorded at a turning lane on Broadway St. and the Mary Hill Bypass in 2022, the sixth most at all intersections in the Lower Mainland in 2022. 

Overall, there were 824 accidents recorded at the intersection between 2018 and 2022, according to ICBC data. 

The high figures have made the bypass an area of focus for law enforcement. 

“As a result, Police have attended this stretch of road in an effort to change unlawful behaviour to reduce harm,” Hodgins wrote.

Police announced a new road safety strategy, High Accident Zone Enforcement (HAZE), last year to curb the rate of accidents and collisions on specific roads in the region. 

The RCMP issued 4,163 violation tickets within multiple HAZE zones in 2023, including the Mary Hill Bypass. 

The intersection at Lougheed Highway and Pinetree was the second highest ticketed area last year, with more than 1,000 violations recorded. Nearly 900 tickets were also given along Como Lake Avenue in 2023, while 613 violations were recorded at Lougheed Highway and Shaughnessy. 

Mark McCutcheon, traffic services commander at the Coquitlam RCMP, stated in a press release that he hopes the stats will shed a light on why the police force is targeting certain areas more than others. 

“Oftentimes, we find that public perception of the dangers, or lack of dangers on a roadway, do not match the collision statistics for that location,” he wrote. 

“We hope that showing the public how areas are identified for police enforcement, providing our traffic enforcement calendar and sharing violation ticket statistics per location will help people understand why certain areas see higher traffic enforcement than others.”

The Coquitlam RCMP advised residents on Facebook to learn more about the impacts of speeding and careless driving here.