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Tax monsters on two wheels
Why make drivers enrich city coffers and give cyclists a free ride?
Jacob Richler
The annual City of Toronto budget shortfall weighs heavily on me, and I like doing my part. So obviously I was thrilled when one recent morning, after dropping the kids off early at school, and lingering there foolishly to chat with one of their teachers, I returned to my car parked out front in the school dropoff zone to find that some intrepid traffic cop had slipped a parking ticket to my windscreen, setting me back $30 – or $31.50 if I were actually inconsiderate enough to pay it promptly over the phone by credit card.
“You should fight that,†the teacher said.
How exactly, I wondered. By taking a day off work to wait in line at court all day, only to risk blurting out in counter-testimony against the offending traffic cop, “All I was doing was dropping my kids off at school sop that when they grow up they can do something a little more interesting than you.â€
“No, no,†I said. “If I took a day off every time this happened, I wouldn’t be able to pay my property taxes. An din any case, I’m just doing my bit – you know the City of Toronto raised $75-million from parking tags last year? Isn’t that great?â€
Yes, I’m really doing my best to come to terms with the idea that taxing cars at every possible opportunity helps the city raise much-needed funds for valuable initiatives like hiring new garbage inspectors to make sure we don’t slip recyclables into our periodically collected green bags, or fining business owners who don’t have the time to clean up after young hooligans who spray graffiti on their walls, and taxpaying homeowners who actually go to work by day and thus cannot take two hours off in the afternoon to shovel snow off their sidewalk.
My regret is that the $2,000 or $3,000 I cough up each year to cover my parking fines before renewing my plates is just not enough. The city still needs more, but does not know where to get it. But I do.
The epiphany came to me yesterday in a blinding flash – or actually, in an irritating thud, when there I was, driving up Yonge Street minding my own business when suddenly a cyclist ran a stop sign and cut me off. Deciding in the generous spirit of spring to hit the brakes and spare his life, I also hit the horn and was greeted by the finger and then – as I pulled alongside – a bang on the roof.
Cyclists.
It’s tempting, I know, but one should not hate them just because they are the righteous vegans of the road, freeloaders who use roads built on the hard-working backs of motorists, and who get around without contributing gas taxes, or helping the local automotive industry or anything useful at all. It’s tempting to hate them, but we shouldn’t. Instead, we should tax them.
I was just looking over the list of fines available for application to those little monsters on two wheels, and the unreaped possibilities are astounding. When’s the last time you saw a bicycle with “improper bicycle lighting� OK, the fine for that under the Ontario Highway Act is just $20 - $35 when you throw in court costs and the “victim fine surcharge.†But when you get into “improper brakes†or a “defective horn,†we’re talking $85 – or $110 when all is said and done.
Disobey a stop sign? $110. Pass a streetcar? $110. Improper turn? $110. Fail to yield to a pedestrian? $110. Fail to stop at an amber light? $110. Drive wrong way on a one-way street? $110. Pass a streetcar improperly? $110. Ride two on a bicycle? $110. Unsafe lane change? $110.
In short, everything you see every cyclist do every time you see one is worth $110. We cannot afford to ignore this potential harvest. Let’s go for it.
National Post
Why make drivers enrich city coffers and give cyclists a free ride?
Jacob Richler
The annual City of Toronto budget shortfall weighs heavily on me, and I like doing my part. So obviously I was thrilled when one recent morning, after dropping the kids off early at school, and lingering there foolishly to chat with one of their teachers, I returned to my car parked out front in the school dropoff zone to find that some intrepid traffic cop had slipped a parking ticket to my windscreen, setting me back $30 – or $31.50 if I were actually inconsiderate enough to pay it promptly over the phone by credit card.
“You should fight that,†the teacher said.
How exactly, I wondered. By taking a day off work to wait in line at court all day, only to risk blurting out in counter-testimony against the offending traffic cop, “All I was doing was dropping my kids off at school sop that when they grow up they can do something a little more interesting than you.â€
“No, no,†I said. “If I took a day off every time this happened, I wouldn’t be able to pay my property taxes. An din any case, I’m just doing my bit – you know the City of Toronto raised $75-million from parking tags last year? Isn’t that great?â€
Yes, I’m really doing my best to come to terms with the idea that taxing cars at every possible opportunity helps the city raise much-needed funds for valuable initiatives like hiring new garbage inspectors to make sure we don’t slip recyclables into our periodically collected green bags, or fining business owners who don’t have the time to clean up after young hooligans who spray graffiti on their walls, and taxpaying homeowners who actually go to work by day and thus cannot take two hours off in the afternoon to shovel snow off their sidewalk.
My regret is that the $2,000 or $3,000 I cough up each year to cover my parking fines before renewing my plates is just not enough. The city still needs more, but does not know where to get it. But I do.
The epiphany came to me yesterday in a blinding flash – or actually, in an irritating thud, when there I was, driving up Yonge Street minding my own business when suddenly a cyclist ran a stop sign and cut me off. Deciding in the generous spirit of spring to hit the brakes and spare his life, I also hit the horn and was greeted by the finger and then – as I pulled alongside – a bang on the roof.
Cyclists.
It’s tempting, I know, but one should not hate them just because they are the righteous vegans of the road, freeloaders who use roads built on the hard-working backs of motorists, and who get around without contributing gas taxes, or helping the local automotive industry or anything useful at all. It’s tempting to hate them, but we shouldn’t. Instead, we should tax them.
I was just looking over the list of fines available for application to those little monsters on two wheels, and the unreaped possibilities are astounding. When’s the last time you saw a bicycle with “improper bicycle lighting� OK, the fine for that under the Ontario Highway Act is just $20 - $35 when you throw in court costs and the “victim fine surcharge.†But when you get into “improper brakes†or a “defective horn,†we’re talking $85 – or $110 when all is said and done.
Disobey a stop sign? $110. Pass a streetcar? $110. Improper turn? $110. Fail to yield to a pedestrian? $110. Fail to stop at an amber light? $110. Drive wrong way on a one-way street? $110. Pass a streetcar improperly? $110. Ride two on a bicycle? $110. Unsafe lane change? $110.
In short, everything you see every cyclist do every time you see one is worth $110. We cannot afford to ignore this potential harvest. Let’s go for it.
National Post
) to Union then bike the rest of the way.