Police get shiny new motorbikes for traffic enforcement

If you hear your phone go off in your pocket while you’re driving, what should you do?

You could pull over or just wait to answer your text until you get wherever you’re headed. But if you decide to look while you’re still behind the wheel, police now have a couple shiny new tools to catch you.

Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan is a police division that works closely with city police and Mounties across the province to catch people breaking traffic rules.

The Regina division has bought two new motorcycles to help patrol.

Officers showed off the new bikes at a news conference on Thursday.

Police officers with the new traffic enforcement motorcycles on June 23, 2022. (Dominick Lucyk/980 CJME)

Sgt. Ian Barr explained the advantage the bikes have over a typical police cruiser.

“We typically drive a police vehicle that’s very visible for a reason, so we can get to emergency calls quickly and so that the public recognizes it’s a police emergency vehicle trying to get somewhere. That is not something that helps catch distracted drivers,” he explained.

“Also, the elevated seating position for the officers on these motorcycles and the nimbleness will help in that goal of reducing our distracted driving numbers in Saskatchewan.”

Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SGI, elaborated a bit more on the bikes’ advantages.

“The idea was we wanted to promote vehicle safety, and we think it’s a good justice initiative … They’re a little more discreet. If you’re on your cellphone, the vehicle that may come up next to you will not be a vehicle sitting down low, it’ll be up high enough that they’ll be able to see inside that you’ve been using your phone,” he explained.

“So I’d encourage people not to do it anymore. We still have way too many accidents.”

So how fast can these shiny new bikes go?

“I have no idea,” Barr said with a chuckle. “Fast enough, I would think.”

“We would encourage people not to try to leave. When they see the lights and siren come on, pull over (and) stop promptly,” Morgan added.

Don Morgan, minister responsible for @SGItweets, hops on one of the new Combined Traffic Unit motorcycles in #yqr.@CJMENews pic.twitter.com/P7UjMSQZtT

— Dom Lucyk (@DomLucyk) June 23, 2022

The two bikes will cost the province and SGI $110,000. The cash will come from the Crown corporation and the provincial Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund.

On Wednesday, SGI reported that police handed out 748 tickets for distracted driving in the month of May alone.

One of those tickets will cost you $580.