Should Police Officers Hand Out Speeding Tickets to Cyclists?
TORONTO’S HIGH PARK IS THE SITE OF CONTENTIOUS DEBATE BETWEEN CYCLISTS AND POLICE
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Toronto’s High Park is the site of contentious debate between cyclists and police
This summer, Toronto’s High Park has become a battleground for cyclists as police and parking enforcement officers wield radar guns and ticket riders traveling at speeds over 20 kilometers per hour (12.4 MPH).
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In fact, many wonder whether cyclists can be ticketed for speeding at all. “Although bicycles are designated as vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act, cyclists are not subject to the speed limits set by the Act, which apply only to 'motor vehicles,'” Ian Brisbin, a lawyer in Ontario and founder of VeloLaw.ca explains. But there is an added wrinkle. “The City of Toronto has, however, set the speed limit for 'vehicles, motorized recreational vehicles, bicycles and personally powered vehicles' within parks as 20km/h. Toronto is near alone as a major Canadian city enforcing speed limits upon cyclists, and it is worth asking why. Where does this directive come from?”
While Toronto government presents an optimistic view of Vision Zero, the long term road safety plan for the city with the goal of zero injuries or fatalities due to traffic, at least 58 pedestrians and cyclists were killed and 183 were seriously injured in 2021 alone, according to the CBC. Earlier this week, two pedestrians were killed in the city, one by a bus and the other by a street sweeper.
So why target cyclists? “The Toronto Police Service’s own statistics indisputably show that pedestrians injured by cyclists are rare, and relative to injuries and deaths of cyclists and pedestrians caused by drivers do not represent a significant public danger,” Brisbin adds. “The statistics simply do not justify this heavy-handed response.
“The resources required for police enforcement of park speed limit bylaws are not justifiable on safety, economic, public health or any other grounds,” he continues. “This campaign is a solution in search of a problem, and even worse, only serves to repress a cycling culture which has demonstrable economic, health and environmental benefits.”
And pedaling through High Park? That car-free route avoids some of the more dangerous and often blocked bike lanes on Bloor Street, which is why it’s so popular amongst the cycling set. That’s why many are arguing that rather than setting up speed traps in the park, police should be stationed at dangerous intersections throughout the city.
“When you've been on the inside of road violence and you understand how painful and devastating it is to survive a severe injury or to lose your spouse, to lose a child, the lifelong agony is overwhelming — especially in comparison to how easy it is to prevent this human carnage,” Jessica Spieker, a Friends and Families for Safe Streets spokesperson, told CBC.
No one is arguing that cyclists should be able to ignore traffic safety and rules of the road, but to focus on enforcing a sub-13MPH speed limit using radar guns seems like a pretty obvious cash grab and anti-cyclist stance being taken by the city.
