[W. K. Lis]

Around and a Roundy: Drivers Are Getting Away with Murder

From link.

How many times have you read this lede on a Streetsblog story: “Another person has been run over and killed on [insert street here] — and the driver was once again not charged”?

Answer: It’s pretty much every other day. And it’s not because we’re unable to come up with other stories or more creative manners of writing — it’s because the same pattern keeps playing out: A person is run over by a driver, and by the time the cops show up, the victim is either dead or in a hospital, and the driver is stammering something about how it was “just an accident — honest, officer.”

Needless to say, charges rarely follow.

Well, cartoonist Bill Roundy is sick of it. It’s not that he thinks drivers or cops are inherently bad people. It’s just that car culture has gaslighted all of us to see automobiles as so vital — so essential, so good — that neither they nor their operators can be held responsible. And police, who spend most of their days (and commutes!) in a car, are rarely able to see a crime, even though their patrol guide is filled with applicable laws: failure to exercise due care, failure to yield, reckless endangerment, etc etc etc.

So this week’s Roundy toon captures his and our frustration. Share it around — and don’t forget to tag @ManhattanDA Cyrus Vance Jr. or @BrooklynDA Eric Gonzalez to remind them to do their jobs.

 

[pman]

Yet another thing we’ll never see in Ontario.

Mobile phone detection cameras - Mobile phone use - Staying safe - NSW Centre for Road Safety

roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au

 

[tiffer24]

Second time in a few days...

A Scarborough family says Toronto must do more to protect pedestrians after a mother and her four-year-old son encountered a pickup truck driving on the sidewalk in front of their home.

It happened on Clonmore Drive near the intersection of Warden Avenue and Danforth Avenue on Tuesday morning.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/scarborough-family-sidewalk-truck-1.5488477

 

[jje1000]

Tory part of the problem?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1235972232804958209

 

[PinkLucy]

Gee Mayor Tory, did you ever think that public behaviour has deteriorated because of a lack of consequences for that behaviour?

 

[DSC]

A European viewpoint https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/how-helsinki-and-oslo-cut-pedestrian-deaths-to-zero

 

[tiffer24]

Toddler dies after being hit by driver near Scarlett Rd. and Eglinton Ave. W. in Etobicoke.

A two-year-old boy is dead after being hit by a driver in Etobicoke Tuesday evening. The boy was hit on Saxony Crescent near Scarlett Road and Eglinton Avenue West just after 5 p.m. The boy was taken home before being transported to hospital by first responders, Toronto police said in a tweet.

He died in hospital Tuesday evening.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...a&utm_campaign=&utm_campaign_id=&utm_content=

 

[W. K. Lis]

A side effect of COVID-19...

BMW driver caught going 99 km/h over limit prompts police warning about empty roads

From link.

A BMW driver caught allegedly going 149 km/h in a 50 km/h zone has prompted police in Ontario to warn motorists that just because the roads are empty does not mean they’ll get away with speeding.

York Regional Police say they have investigated 33 incidents of stunt driving on the roads this month.

Police say the latest case occurred on Tuesday evening in the Major Mackenzie Drive West and Highway 27 area.

A motorist was allegedly caught driving 99 km/h over the 50 km/h speed limit and is now facing a stunt driving charge.

"Just because the roads are relatively empty, don't think you'll get away with speeding," police said in a tweet on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1242780766133772289

Driving more than 50 km/h over the posted limit is considered stunt driving in Ontario.

Motorists caught stunting driving can face up to a $10,000 fine, an immediate seven-day licence suspension and seven day vehicle impounding.

 

[pman]

Those penalties strike me as ludicrously insufficient for doing 149 in a 50k zone.

 

[ADRM]

Those penalties strike me as ludicrously insufficient for doing 149 in a 50k zone.

Yeah, I'd have a hard time being convinced that you should ever be able to hold a license again if you are caught going 100 over the limit.

 

[pman]

Agreed.

 

[W. K. Lis]

A side effect of COVID-19...

BMW driver caught going 99 km/h over limit prompts police warning about empty roads

From link.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1242780766133772289

Going to happen no matter what the "signs" say, because the traffic lanes are w-i-d-e and the roads themselves are designed not for safety of the pedestrians but for the "safety" of speeders.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I doubt the design speed was for 150 km/h.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I doubt the design speed was for 150 km/h.

If they are able to speed along at 150 km/h, it was not designed for automobiles doing 50 km/h.

From link, about the Toronto Indy, which uses Lake Shore Blvd. W. that normally has a posted speed limit of 60 km/h.

Qualifying for the event took place on Saturday, July 16, 2016. Scott Dixon qualified on pole for the event with a time of 59.9073 at an average speed of 106 mph (170 km/h)- the slowest qualifying average speed of the year

 

[Admiral Beez]

A side effect of COVID-19...

BMW driver caught going 99 km/h over limit prompts police warning about empty roads

From link.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1242780766133772289

I'd like to change that law, so that it's not about being 50 kph over the speed limit, but about being 50% over the limit. So, do 150 in a 100 kph zone, or 45 in a 30 kph, both get you a vehicle seizure.

Though, IMO it's running stop signs and traffic lights that's more deadly than speed.