Most British Columbians would support a system of "progressive punishment" that forces wealthier drivers to pay stiffer penalties when they're caught speeding, according to a new survey. The Research Co. poll found 69 per cent of B.C. residents in favour of issuing fines based on a driver's disposable income and how fast they were going.

“Reducing speeds does save lives, but you need to pair it with education, traffic calming and enforcement,” said Coun. Teale Phelps Bondaroff. “And Saanich is doing that — we have our road safety plan and a host of education programs, which is part of a broader suite of policies that Saanich is taking.”

Saanich Councillor Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff wants to see BC implement a traffic fines system that takes people’s income and wealth into account. “One hundred dollars doesn’t mean the same thing to everybody,” said Bondaroff in an interview with Daily Hive on Saturday, January 21. “We want people to be deterred from breaking the law in the first place.”

Saanich councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff is proposing that fines should be based on how much money a person makes rather than just a flat rate. “So if you fail to yield for a pedestrian, you get a $121 ticket,” Bondaroff told Focus BC Friday. “Failing to yield to a bus is a $368 ticket. There’s two problems with these fines. The first is that they disproportionately punish people with lower incomes. And the second aspect is they fail to adequately serve as a deterrent to the extra wealthy.”

Saanich district councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff is behind the effort, arguing if a minimum-wage worker gets a $138 ticket for speeding, that can be a major blow to the wallet — more so than it would be for somebody making six figures. He’s put forward a motion at the council level aimed at eventually asking the province to make a change, pushing for means-tested traffic fines.

Phelps Bondaroff also wants to make the region’s streets, sidewalks and trails safer. He recently saw a mural installed at Falaise Crescent in Saanich as a traffic-calming measure, which he will study. On council, he said, he will push hard for a new advisory committee solely focused on accessibility.

Phelps Bondaroff also wants to make the region’s streets, sidewalks and trails safer. He recently saw a mural installed at Falaise Crescent in Saanich as a traffic-calming measure, which he will study. On council, he said, he will push hard for a new advisory committee solely focused on accessibility.

“Research has found that road murals encourage drivers to slow down, thereby improving road safety. I’m very pleased to see this pilot project up and running in Saanich and am looking forward to evaluating its effectiveness,” he said.

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Phelps Bondaroff worked with the district to develop road mural guidelines. He’ll be collecting traffic speed data and comparing it against measurements taken pre-mural to study the impact of the mural on vehicle speeds on the street.

Sea cucumbers are common. From nearshore shallow waters down to the depths of the deepest trenches – they inhabit nearly every corner of the planet’s oceans. Yet, soaring demand has created a multi-million dollar black market for the lucrative blobs, according to one Saanich researcher.
 

Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research for marine conservation organization OceansAsia and an expert on illegal fishing and marine wildlife crime, was in the spotlight following the premiere of a new Undercover Asia documentary Sunday (July 31) featuring his research.

As a volunteer member of the board of the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network, Teale heads up the Pocket Places Project, which helps promote, map, stock, and build little free libraries around the CRD. To date, he has helped build over 80 of these little book boxes, and has delivered and distributed more than 70,000 books to the region’s growing network of over 615 little free libraries, with his bike trailer. In addition to topping up little free libraries with books, Teale also drops off other important information, including Book Bash! book marks.