Traffic Campaign Focuses on Bike Safety
The traffic campaign will take place from Monday, July 13 until Sunday, July 19, 2020, and will focus on community engagement, education and enforcement.
As part of the ongoing response to COVID-19, the City of Toronto launched ActiveTO,which aims to get residents out of their homes while adhering to the restrictions laid out by Public Health officials. This means more cyclists are riding around our city and drivers need to be alert and anticipate sharing the road with vulnerable road users.
Transportation Services and Toronto Public Health have also worked together to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists (Expanding Cycling Network) to allow for better physical distancing. The Toronto Police Service will be contributing to this plan by conducting traffic enforcement activities and connecting with people about issues that lead to cyclists, and other vulnerable road users, being killed or injured on our roads.
“There appears to be a tremendous amount of confusion when it comes to the rules surrounding bicycles. We are spelling things out during this campaign for all road users. This is a back to basics concept educating everyone regardless of how you get around Toronto.” said Const. Sean Shapiro, of the Safety Programs section of Traffic Services.
In 2019, a total of 64 people were killed on Toronto’s roads. Of these, 47 (73%) were vulnerable road users, including one cyclist. Traffic enforcement activities will focus of the “Big 4” driver behaviours that are known to cause injuries to vulnerable road users - speeding, driving aggressively, driving distracted and driving impaired.
Part of the conversation will be engaging with drivers about “dooring incidents” that happen to cyclists on our busy roads, as well as promoting the Toronto Police Bicycle Registry and other ways to prevent bicycle theft.
The Toronto Police Service and its members are committed to improving road safety, supporting victims and families of traffic collisions and continuing with Toronto’sVision Zero Road Safety Plan.
