Arctic Canadian town hopes radar gun will stop speeding snowmobilers

Kugluktuk, a community in Canada’s eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut, is cracking down on speeding snowmobilers after complaints from residents that reckless drivers on hamlet roads are endangering children.

Sandra Poinak, a parent in the community, says her two children were nearly hit by a snowmobile while leaving the Christmas games this year.

“It’s really unsafe, especially on the school road where you have to cross to get to the school. That is the most dangerous street in town,” she said.

Now bylaw and a hamlet maintenance truck block the ends of the road when kids are leaving school, but Poinak says many parents want the hamlet to do more.

The hamlet recently invested in a handheld radar gun, but the equipment does little to catch reckless snowmobilers who easily escape between houses.

“People just don’t realize how fast those machines go, especially when they’re in town,” said Don LeBlanc, Kugluktuk’s senior administrative officer.

“There are bylaws and rules and we hope with this new piece of equipment that we can make them realize, through a ticket or whatever it takes, that there’s a speed limit and they have to follow it.”

The hamlet is considering buying its own snowmobile to do patrols.