In the ever-increasing efforts by the leftist car-haters to strip drivers in Toronto of all of their rights, Cllr. Mike Layton has come up with yet another bright idea as part of the city’s (No) Vision Zero plan.
He has sent a letter to next week’s Infrastructure and Environment committee asking that the city’s transportation officials — headed by chief car-hater Barbara Gray — look at more proactively restricting right-turns-on-red (ROTR) at a variety of Toronto intersections.
This is to be done in conjunction with a review of speed limit reductions.
Layton claims in his letter that motor vehicle ROTR(s) are responsible for 13% of the city’s pedestrian injuries and/or fatalities — and that in the majority of these collisions pedestrians had the right of way.
He says allowing these right turns “compromises the safety” of vulnerable road users especially seniors, children and those with disabilities.
However, city spokesman Hakeem Muhammad told me Thursday that 2% of pedestrians killed and seriously injured and 4% of cyclist collisions were the result of a vehicle turning right on a red light — and that it doesn’t happen across the entire Toronto network of roads.
So it seems Layton may be a bit off.
Right now, says Muhammad, there are about 165 locations with RTOR prohibitions — and that these prohibitions are put in place using a system which determines whether there’s enough traffic flow and collision activity to warrant the change.
Those locations include Avenue Road and Lonsdale heading north; Bathurst St. and Front St. West heading west; Bloor St.West and The Kingsway heading west; Broadview Ave. and Pottery Rd. heading south and Coxwell Ave. and Gerrard St. East heading north.
Muhammad said as part of the (No) Vision 2.0 safety plan update, approved last July, city staff (meaning Gray and her car-hating cabal) committed to looking at putting in place ROTR prohibitions strategically — meaning even if they aren’t requested.
That would involve assessing collision patterns and conflicts between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists at particularly intersections — as well as determining intersections where “sightlines for right-turning drivers are a common concern,” he said.
He didn’t say would determine that concern but I’m guessing the car police at City Hall.
That notwithstanding, yet again, Toronto’s leftist politicians won’t be happy until they make the city’s busiest intersections a series of giant parking lots — hoping to push drivers into walking or cycling.
They continue to ignore the fact that they’ve enabled the frustration of drivers — whether drivers are trying to beat a traffic light, manoeuvre through an intersection or just make it from Point A to Point B — with all their silly traffic calming measures, lower speed limits and other (No) Vision 2.0 activities.
Don’t get me started about the King St. right-of-way, another foolish effort to socially engineer the city’s roads.
So much for all of Mayor John Tory’s election promises to tackle gridlock and congestion.
It’s worse than ever.
And why are these initiatives always targeted at drivers?
What about the responsibility of pedestrians not to jaywalk midblock or to respect the flashing countdown signals,, which are supposed to allow drivers to turn, or not to cross a street with their heads buried in their iPhones?
Would it be too much for cyclists to respect the rules of the road too?
Nah, for the left on council and Gray and her cabal this latest idea to restrict right turns on red is not about doing what’s right for Torontonians.
It’s about doing what’s right for them.
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