DELTA Police officers are increasingly focusing efforts on high collision areas in the city, and it looks like their work is beginning to pay off. The number of collisions from January to March is down 17% compared to this time last year – 298 in 2018, compared to 357 in 2017.

In the interests of ensuring the public is aware of enforcement priorities, Delta police is also releasing the worst 10 areas for collisions from the past three years. Here’s a hint to motorists – you may want to slow down, and definitely put down the phone when driving on Nordel Way.

There are actually six different areas along Nordel Way that police have highlighted as a concern, but in the interests of keeping this list as a top 10, a few locations have been combined.

The worst spot for collisions on the list is the 10500-block of Nordel Way – that’s the stretch of Nordel going southwest down the hill on the approach to head north on the Alex Fraser bridge.

But another bad spot nearby is at the Nordel Way / Highway 91 connector.

“We are leveraging technology to ensure we consistently focus our enforcement efforts on the high collision spots,” says Sgt. Sukh Sidhu, head of the Delta Police Traffic unit. “Traffic officers are telling me that they’re heading out to do enforcement in a specific spot, only to find out that patrol officers already targeted the same spot earlier that day.”

Perhaps not coincidentally the number of tickets issued in the first quarter of 2018 are up. Delta police officers handed out 2,904 tickets in the first three months of 2018, as compared to 1,578 in 2017.

“Honestly we’d prefer not to hand out any tickets,” says Sidhu. “But it’s an important tool for us to influence driver behavior, and ultimately prevent collisions. I’d far rather give you a ticket, then tell your family you’ve been involved in a serious accident.”

Traffic officers also believe an informed public is a public who may be driving a bit more responsibly, so on Wednesday they launched a new Twitter account at @DPDTraffic.

The Top 10 collision locations in Delta – 2015-2017

* 10500 Block Nordel Way and Nordel Way Highway 91 Connector
* 72nd Avenue and 120th Street
* Highway 17 / Highway 91 Connector
* Highway 91 Alex Fraser Bridge Approach
* Nordel Way and 120th Street and Nordel Way 116th Street
* 72nd Avenue and Nicholson Road
* Nordel Way and 84th and Nordel Way and 112th Street
* Intersection of 56th Avenue and Highway 17
* Intersection of 52nd and Highway 17
* Highway 17A and Ladner Trunk Road