Ameer Shash | Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Jordan Chu | Photo/Video Editor
Any commuter in the City of Toronto who frequents the downtown core can come to the verdict that too many auto collisions are taking place on our roads. News outlets broadcast these on the daily; the “accident” happens, news reporters get the scoop while they’re broadcasting on-scene, and then the traffic safety officer delivers his or her, “We’re asking everyone to stay safe out there,” or “Keep the phone down, please,” spiel on camera. A mere day will pass by until another cyclist or another commuter is injured or killed. That is when this vicious cycle repeats. What is most devastating is that many of us who don’t cycle turn a blind eye to this. Preventable deaths are seen as commonplace and normalized, among other social problems that plague our city.
This problem has been disregarded by local politicians unwilling to address constituents’ concerns on commuter safety effectively. The end result is unnecessary tension between city officials and constituents. One would ask why isn’t the City of Toronto taking corrective action to mitigate injuries and deaths on our streets?
Well, an attempt has been made. Introduced by Mayor John Tory in 2016, an initiative named VisionZero is said to be an elaborate “action plan focused on reducing traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on Toronto’s streets,” according to the City of Toronto website. The initiative’s approach looks at gradual implementation of cyclist and road infrastructure by adding designated children and elderly zones to select regions and educating civilians. VisionZero does not account for other factors contributing to cyclist fatalities or deaths. For instance, how can one region have more distracted drivers than another?
This is where strategic and strict enforcement, a component which VisionZero has not considered extensively enough, is critical. All road users sharing vehicular traffic, including pedestrians, have the onus of conducting travel in a manner that does not jeopardize their safety. For instance, cyclists have the responsibility of wearing reflective clothing so that motorists can see them in driving conditions that hinder the visibility of others, as well as the responsibility of wearing helmets. Drivers have the obligation to constantly check blind spots and use their turn signals as a communicative tool so that maneuvers can be performed safely.
As an organization that advocates for a healthier and safer city through a cyclist’s lens, Cycle Toronto is an “authoritative source in the public conversation about cycling,” as their website states. They primarily use social media to reach its demographic audience, mainly consisting of millennials who have dedicated their time to protect its cyclist community and to stand up to injustice. Cycle Toronto has approached the issue by pushing for a number of precautionary measures to keep riders safe, such as the creation of Vulnerable Road User Laws (VRUL), protected bike lanes in areas under construction until its completion, and its Friends and Families for Safe Streets campaign.
VRUL, which is in place in other parts of the world, are made to hold motorists accountable to protect commuters who are the most susceptible to injury and death on our roads, such as pedestrians and cyclists. On the VRUL section of their advocacy page, Cycle Toronto displays a poster that compares the statistics and facts true to Toronto and to Portland, Oregon; it relates to pedestrian and cyclist deaths. It states the inequality in laws that exist in Toronto, and how the lack of stricter penalties has led to more deaths than any comparable city. Cycle Toronto, however, has taken steps to gather their community to have their voices heard by organizing a petition.
Band-Aid solutions, such as parking ticket blitzes enacted by the City of Toronto, have shown minimal effect in mitigating traffic-related annoyances. Governing agencies, who ultimately make decisions to pass laws pertaining to a spectrum of things, have political power. Adapting existing laws can, in turn, make roads safer for both cyclists as well as motorists.
Not all motorists who are driving in downtown Toronto are necessarily from downtown Toronto. And even if a driver in downtown does live in Toronto, chances are they have not had enough exposure to driving in downtown. A select bunch may be from a northern part of the province where open roads are the norm. This presents a safety concern because if one cannot adapt to complex, fast-paced traffic environments, it leads to potential risks of accidents.
For instance, an out-of-town driver in Toronto, who only sees “deer crossing” signs regularly while driving in his or her hometown, would be unfamiliar with regulatory signage and street designs that would only be found in downtown. This ultimately creates incompetency in some motorists. One can argue that collisions due to inexperience can present itself downtown, but when implemented and deployed efficiently and correctly, municipalities can benefit because the reduction of traffic collisions (attributed to drivers’ enhanced skills from the proposal) will reduce the number of delays on our roads. Logically, delays are what cause congestion on major intersections and its adverse effects include the potential for more accidents, such as a driver’s worry and rush to get to where they’re going.
During the development of this article, winter was in its early stages when many cyclists, who are year-round commuters, were active on downtown streets. Can one think about how many motorists, who are unseasoned drivers, make up Toronto’s highways? While hard to tell, make a note of one thing: the weather is not to blame for car collisions — it’s the skill of the driver who is to blame. Looking back to a publication in April 2017, media relations officer Sgt. Kerry Schmidt from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) remarked the influx of vehicular collisions within the GTA. “When we look at all those crashes there is one common denominator. It is not the weather, it is not the roads, it is not the conditions, it is the poor driving of the driver,” said Schmidt.
Given that (presumably) G-class licensed drivers account for most drivers on the road, why aren’t they exercising caution in poor weather? From personal experience in driver’s education, when we were taught the basics of winter driving, it was never practical skills. We were just told verbally how to adjust our driving, which doesn’t really help. It’s like learning how to ride a bike through watching a video: you need to physically get a feel of what to do. What can be done so that drivers acquire critical skills in operating a vehicle under inclement conditions is making it the law for all ministry-approved driving schools to instruct students on a simulated course during the winter for their G2 and G licence tests, and then performing their exam so that their skills can be validated by a DriveTest agent.
Currently, though, the City of Toronto has made limited effort to mitigate traffic-related “accidents.”
Collisions continue to persist and while it is unknown for how much longer until change does happen, civilians currently remain hopeful that the persistence of advocacy groups such as Cycle Toronto get their message across to create meaningful change for commuters. Commuters must take collective action to pressure the city, as well as higher governing authorities, to end senseless fatalities that could have been easily prevented, if the government applied stricter laws and regulations as a deterrent. In the meantime, cyclist deaths will continue to occur unless civilians stand up.
