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Creating a separate “traffic safety squad” sounds attractive: Brand a new unit, hold a press conference, promise safer streets.

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But there’s a serious unintended consequence. Once traffic safety is carved off as someone else’s job, the rest of law enforcement quietly downgrades it. What was supposed to make roads safer can actually make them more dangerous.

We’re seeing hints of this in Calgary. In recent years, the city created a dedicated traffic safety unit staffed by peace officers to tackle collisions and high-risk driving. Yet Calgary is now experiencing a record or near-record number of traffic deaths: 29 people were killed in collisions in 2024 and at least 27 by late September 2025, with pedestrian and motorcyclist deaths at or near 10-year highs. If a specialized squad were enough on its own, we would expect those numbers to be going the other way.

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Drivers drive the way they do because they get away with it. Every time someone speeds through a school zone without consequence, the message is clear: These laws are........

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