According to cyclists accounts, the Toronto Police are outright harassing and even assaulting cyclists. Is it really this bad there?
Yes and no!
Like many things this is a complicated situation.
There is a 20km/h speed limit on High Park Roads, and on a favorite loop that cyclists like to do - there are several Stop signs. High Park, while not that even a comparison High Park would be somewhat akin to Central Park in NYC. High Park is a busy multi-use urban park!
There is uproar in the cycling community because, the situation out on the roads of Toronto ( and in the GTA) has become worse in many ways. There is a much heightened level of belligerence from motorists and behavior that they can literarily do anything they want to.
The above goes beyond anecdotal. In 2019 then Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders let it slip in a Radio Interview that the Toronto Police had withdrawn from almost ALL Traffic Enforcement work, and it had been that way for a number of years. There was then some stats that came out that in the previous 5 years from the Chief saying this, that driver-to-driver crashes, collisions between drivers and pedestrians/cyclists, and fatalities of that latter group, were ALL up notably!! How could that be construed in ANYWAY as a good thing. Adding to the irony of this is that the Mayor of Toronto along with the Toronto Police had be advocating for a number of years about #VisionZero!!
Just recently I was out for a ride up north of Toronto near Aurora where I live in York Region. I was stopped at a light and a York Region Police Cruiser pulls up beside me. I sat there and watched as a driver on the cross road completely ran a Red Light right in front of us. I gave the WTF signal to the Police Officer - he shrugged his shoulders!! I sight this showing that, that is where we are at . . no one seems to care. There are minimal to no consequences for Motorists, who as I mentioned literally do anything they want to - illegal or otherwise, unsafe, or otherwise on the roads.
Last year, despite fewer miles driven collectively in the GTA by motorists (due to the pandemic), Pedestrian and Cyclists fatalities were up, AGAIN!
I say all of this to explain WHY the cycling community was outraged by what was going on in High Park. Yes the cyclists were speeding. Yes they ran Stop signs. But no one was hurt/killed. Meanwhile on the roads of Toronto and the GTA, Motorists do whatever they want to and more and more pedestrians/cyclists than ever are getting hurt and killed. Make a mistake, break the law, and drive recklessly in a motor vehicle - REALLY bad things happen, VERY quickly. Why is NOTHING being done to address that??
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
Yes and no!
Like many things this is a complicated situation.
There is a 20km/h speed limit on High Park Roads, and on a favorite loop that cyclists like to do - there are several Stop signs. High Park, while not that even a comparison High Park would be somewhat akin to Central Park in NYC. High Park is a busy multi-use urban park!
There is uproar in the cycling community because, the situation out on the roads of Toronto ( and in the GTA) has become worse in many ways. There is a much heightened level of belligerence from motorists and behavior that they can literarily do anything they want to.
The above goes beyond anecdotal. In 2019 then Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders let it slip in a Radio Interview that the Toronto Police had withdrawn from almost ALL Traffic Enforcement work, and it had been that way for a number of years. There was then some stats that came out that in the previous 5 years from the Chief saying this, that driver-to-driver crashes, collisions between drivers and pedestrians/cyclists, and fatalities of that latter group, were ALL up notably!! How could that be construed in ANYWAY as a good thing. Adding to the irony of this is that the Mayor of Toronto along with the Toronto Police had be advocating for a number of years about #VisionZero!!
Just recently I was out for a ride up north of Toronto near Aurora where I live in York Region. I was stopped at a light and a York Region Police Cruiser pulls up beside me. I sat there and watched as a driver on the cross road completely ran a Red Light right in front of us. I gave the WTF signal to the Police Officer - he shrugged his shoulders!! I sight this showing that, that is where we are at . . no one seems to care. There are minimal to no consequences for Motorists, who as I mentioned literally do anything they want to - illegal or otherwise, unsafe, or otherwise on the roads.
Last year, despite fewer miles driven collectively in the GTA by motorists (due to the pandemic), Pedestrian and Cyclists fatalities were up, AGAIN!
I say all of this to explain WHY the cycling community was outraged by what was going on in High Park. Yes the cyclists were speeding. Yes they ran Stop signs. But no one was hurt/killed. Meanwhile on the roads of Toronto and the GTA, Motorists do whatever they want to and more and more pedestrians/cyclists than ever are getting hurt and killed. Make a mistake, break the law, and drive recklessly in a motor vehicle - REALLY bad things happen, VERY quickly. Why is NOTHING being done to address that??
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog