Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

[innsertnamehere]

To be fair, most streets in those three ridings (and a few others) are high pedestrian areas relative to most streets in the province.

indeed but there are lots of roads in those wards with low pedestrian counts and high traffic levels I'm sure council would love to plop some speed cameras on that will achieve nothing for vision zero but produce fat "speeding' incidence rates. Streets like the Bayview Extension, Allen Road, Lakeshore Boulevard, etc. come to mind. Allen Road has a 40 limit on it for the first couple hundred metres northbound - arguably the best speed trap in the city, and a location where it is literally illegal to be a pedestrian.

 

[Towered]

After age 80, the road test may require the driver to parallel park.

I doubt it - I don't think my mother has ever parallel parked in her life, and even expresses high anxiety at the mere thought.

Besides, all these modern cars come with an automated park feature now!

 

[evandyk]

indeed but there are lots of roads in those wards with low pedestrian counts and high traffic levels I'm sure council would love to plop some speed cameras on that will achieve nothing for vision zero but produce fat "speeding' incidence rates. Streets like the Bayview Extension, Allen Road, Lakeshore Boulevard, etc. come to mind. Allen Road has a 40 limit on it for the first couple hundred metres northbound - arguably the best speed trap in the city, and a location where it is literally illegal to be a pedestrian.

That would be fine, though. Anything that gets people to understand that speed limits are actually rules that have to be followed would be helpful, even if you're not helping pedestrians with the immediate action.

 

[tiffer24]

https://www.cp24.com/news/cyclist-rushed-to-trauma-centre-after-collision-in-parkdale-1.5735763

 

[crs1026]

If Toronto wants to designate the entire city as a massive safety zone perhaps they should be talking to the province about simply just increasing speeding fines instead.. it's abusing the legislative tools and their intents to try and pull something like this.

I don't have hard data, but a look at the map of where fatalities are happening suggests that Community Safety Zones are a political tool rather than a data/fact-based safety measure. They reduce speed limits in areas that are political no-brainers (who can argue with driving slowly past a school?) while many fatalities appear to happen on arterials (where it takes far more political courage to enforce or lower speed limits).

There's no "perhaps".... speeding penalties are too low, everywhere.

As for working with the Province.... far too many Transport Ministers are former owners of car dealerships. The Province should be out ahead of this one.

I don't fault Councillors Layton, Peruzza, and Colle for using the only tool available to them.

- Paul

 

[W. K. Lis]

I doubt it - I don't think my mother has ever parallel parked in her life, and even expresses high anxiety at the mere thought.

Besides, all these modern cars come with an automated park feature now!

From link.

Ontario's senior driver programs aim to keep seniors driving for as long as they can safely do so.​

​

Once drivers reach 80 years of age, every two years they must:​

• Take a vision test
• Undergo a driver record review
• Participate in a 45-minute Group Education Session (GES)
• During the GES, complete two, brief, non-computerized in-class screening assignments
• If necessary, take a road test

This entire renewal process will take a total of about 90 minutes.​

​

Please note that this is a licence renewal program. Existing and valid licenses will be not revoked, but all requirements need to be met before your licence is renewed.​

​

Once you've completed the group session and screening components you may be asked to take a road test or submit medical information from your doctor.​

​

​

Note, the road test will be NOT using the automated park feature.

Program changes​

You can download information about changes to MTO's Senior Driver Licence Renewal Program in one of 18 languages.

Arabic (PDF - 232 KB)	Greek (PDF - 184 KB)	Punjabi (PDF - 78 KB)
Chinese-Traditional (PDF - 240 KB)	Gujarati (PDF - 230 KB)	Russian (PDF - 181 KB)
Chinese-Simplified (PDF - 213 KB)	Italian (PDF - 174 KB)	Spanish (PDF - 176 KB)
English (PDF - 61 KB)	Korean (PDF - 243 KB)	Tamil (PDF - 250 KB)
Farsi (PDF - 297 KB)	Polish (PDF - 180 KB)	Urdu (PDF - 199 KB)
French (PDF - 178 KB)	Portuguese (PDF - 177 KB)	Vietnamese (PDF - 189 KB)

 

[Admiral Beez]

I doubt it - I don't think my mother has ever parallel parked in her life, and even expresses high anxiety at the mere thought.

Besides, all these modern cars come with an automated park feature now!

When we moved to Fredericton in 2004 my wife test drove a car we were thinking of buying. She soon drove downtown and found a tight spot to parallel park it, like a pro. The salesman in the back seat said, "you're not from around here"

 

[Admiral Beez]

If Toronto wants to designate the entire city as a massive safety zone perhaps they should be talking to the province about simply just increasing speeding fines....

Speeding fines alone do not make for a safer road. We need to make it difficult to speed in the first place through road design changes.

 

[W. K. Lis]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1480938845826863117

Is a community safety zone still a zone if it covers half the city?

Councils are increasingly abusing community safety zones and speed cameras if you ask me. The province designed the legislation on them for them to be placed in key locations with high sensitivity to speeding like school zones, high pedestrian areas, etc., but failed to realize that municipalities can designate literally any street they want as a community safety zone for no reason whatsoever.. so now they are getting placed on suburban arterials, rural sideroads, etc.

If Toronto wants to designate the entire city as a massive safety zone perhaps they should be talking to the province about simply just increasing speeding fines instead.. it's abusing the legislative tools and their intents to try and pull something like this.

The fines need to be based on income.

Finland, Home of the $103,000 Speeding Ticket​

Most of Scandinavia determines fines based on income.

See link.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The fines need to be based on income.

Finland, Home of the $103,000 Speeding Ticket​

Most of Scandinavia determines fines based on income.

See link.

I don’t need some broke DUI speeding knowing he’s not paying much of a fine.

 

[tiffer24]

One thing we can all agree on. Ontario drivers are the best drivers in the world.

https://www.cp24.com/news/16-people...er-collision-on-gardiner-expressway-1.5738229

No one was seriously injured after a collision on the Gardiner Expressway Wednesday evening. The crash happened just before 9 p.m. on the westbound lanes of the highway near Islington Avenue.

Toronto police said multiple vehicles were involved in the collision, including a GO bus. Sixteen people, including bus passengers, were assessed at the scene, but they did not need to be transported to the hospital, Toronto paramedics said.

One of the drivers involved, police said, appeared to have fled the scene on foot. The cause of the crash is unknown.

 

[evandyk]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-police-officer-charged-impaired-driving-1.6315442

A high-ranking officer with the Toronto Police Service has been charged with impaired driving after a crash in Pickering, Ont., on Thursday evening.

Supt. Riyaz Hussein, who leads the force's disciplinary hearings office, is now facing charges of impaired driving, careless driving and having open liquor in a vehicle, Toronto police confirmed in a news release.

The guy in charge of making sure police behave drives drunk, with an open drink in his unmarked police car. And we wonder why nothing changes on our streets?

As has been noted many times above, road design is our only way out of this. We definitely can't count on the police.

 

[tiffer24]

The best drivers in the world...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1482364808422998022

 

[facepalming_brooklynite]

https://www.cp24.com/news/cyclist-rushed-to-trauma-centre-after-collision-in-parkdale-1.5735763

This section of Queen Street is actually part of a designated "cycling route", as it connects Sorauren Avenue and Dowling Avenue which both have "sharrows." Evidently this is the local councillor's favourite type of bike "infrastructure" and the only one he has deemed suitable for Parkdale
(see the city's official Cycling Network Map)

 

[afransen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1480938845826863117

Is a community safety zone still a zone if it covers half the city?

Councils are increasingly abusing community safety zones and speed cameras if you ask me. The province designed the legislation on them for them to be placed in key locations with high sensitivity to speeding like school zones, high pedestrian areas, etc., but failed to realize that municipalities can designate literally any street they want as a community safety zone for no reason whatsoever.. so now they are getting placed on suburban arterials, rural sideroads, etc.

If Toronto wants to designate the entire city as a massive safety zone perhaps they should be talking to the province about simply just increasing speeding fines instead.. it's abusing the legislative tools and their intents to try and pull something like this.

Lowering speed limits is completely pointless if the street design is not changed to align with that limit. You can't enforce your way to lower speeds.