Police Cracking Down On Pedestrians & Drivers After Rash Of Traffic Deaths
Posted January 27, 2010 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Police officers plan to pay special attention to traffic trouble spots in an effort to stop the spike of pedestrian deaths in Toronto so far this year.
Cops hit downtown intersections Wednesday morning handing out more than 50 tickets to pedestrians caught jaywalking and disobeying traffic signals. Pedestrians caught disregarding signals could be subject to a $50 fine. Since Jan. 1, authorities have issued 289 tickets.
Officers are also targeting drivers in the downtown core Wednesday for failing to stop for open streetcar doors. Motorists who fail to stop could be subject to a $180 fine. Failing to clear a signalized intersection could result in a $40 fine.
An unexplained spike in pedestrian deaths over the past two weeks has prompted the heightened response by police. On Monday night 38-year-old Juliette Robinson was killed while crossing Davenport Road near Symington Avenue. Her death marked the city’s seventh pedestrian fatality and the 14th in the GTA this month.
“Toronto has witnessed unexplained short-term spikes involving both pedestrian and vehicle death and injury collisions in the past many times. Our belief is that this is a spike once again,” Supt. Earl Witty said Wednesday.
The city experienced the fewest number of road deaths in recent history in 2009 when 31 pedestrians were killed, Witty noted.
Authorities plan to crack down on both drivers and pedestrians.
“Drivers cannot operate with a sense of entitlement to our roads with a me-first attitude, nor can pedestrians. They must not walk with the belief that all drivers see them and therefore compromise their own safety by not taking ownership of their own actions,” Witty said.
He also acknowledged the pain these accidents have caused families across the city.
“To those who have died: Marites, Nouhad, Leena, Leovina, Chen, Yonas, Juliette. You may become known in data analysis and media reports as numbers, but you are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to those who loved you. For that, the people of Toronto owe it to your memory to learn from the loss of your lives to prevent future deaths from happening.”
