Ben Bull, Columnist –
The City of Toronto has increased the fine for drivers who are too dumb to know when there’s no room to cross an intersection. You know the ones – squinting over the steering wheel, struggling to see ten yards ahead.
If that’s you, then look out – you might get dinged $450 for your fatuity.
But probably not.
As with many bylaws in this city, we have no effective way of enforcing the rules. Unless you’re parked on the wrong side of the street two minutes longer than you should, we don’t do tickets.
Have you ever seen a litterer slapped on the wrist? Or a spitter? An idler? Or a jaywalker?
Box blockers are a pest. I remember weaving around a semi-tractor trailer at York and Front and passing one of those impotent intersection cops in the middle of the road. When I asked him to give the numpty a ticket, he just shrugged his shoulders and ushered me across.
I’m a little wistful for the intersection cop. Remember those orange-vested automatons John Tory rolled out after his mayoral inauguration? They milled about for a few weeks looking left and right, scratching their heads and peeping their whistles. Then they went away.
I suppose the intersection cop made me feel a little safer – you feel safer walking towards oncoming traffic and certain death accompanied by a bewildered bloke in a Day Glo jacket.
While Tory’s approach was to blitz the box, Olivia Chow prefers to wield the big stick. $450 is a hefty fine, but who’s she going to hit with it?
Cameras seem like an obvious trap, but evidently Torontonians are wary of them. This city is so indictment-averse that we put-up signs everywhere warning about the few cameras we have: ‘Red Light Camera Ahead!’
Aaaaah! Whoops, too late.
But cameras are a proven method for enforcing traffic laws. They are not an invasion of privacy – they are hanging off stanchions on public streets. We are being watched everywhere we go.
What difference does it make if a faceless clerk in a remote control centre swivels the lens around to capture your tag as you drive into the intersection to block that granny shuffling to the other side?
Toothless bylaws are the bane of this city. I remember calling in a 6 a.m. noise complaint as a condo contractor revved up his crane an hour and half early at the bottom of my street. A bylaw officer called back two weeks later:
‘Are they still there?’
Cars idle all the time on my street. Who am I going to call?
I know who to call if I hear a gas-powered leaf blower grind to life as lawns get their annual coatings of red, gold and green: Gasbusters! Gasbusters is a citizen group trying to get these odious gadgets out of our lives. I support them whole-heartedly, but once the blowers are banned, who’s going to roll up and un-yank the chains?
Back to the box. Enforcement isn’t the only way to improve intersectional-awareness. Education can help. So can better road design.
In the United Kingdom, busy intersections are painted with a grid. Drivers know not to sit on the grid. When you do, you look conspicuous, like a little rascal with crumbs around his mouth and hand stuck in the cookie jar.
We could also ban right turns on red lights during rush hour. They are one reason so many of the box blockers get antsy and try to sneak across.
It’s great that box blockers are finally in the city’s cross hairs. Now we have to set the snare.
