Traffic Team Enforces Vision for Safe Roads

A Toronto traffic enforcement team that targets driving behaviours responsible for the most serious types of collisions across the city has been recognized for their work to keep streets safe.

The Toronto Police Service 2022 Vision Zero Enforcement Team (VZET) is the recipient of this year’s Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) Traffic Safety Excellence Award.

Inspector Matt Moyer, TSV’s Unit Commander, said the award is a significant recognition of the commitment to stopping people from getting hurt or killed on Toronto roads.

“It lets Toronto residents know we have their backs when it comes to addressing the Big Four offences – speeding, distracted, aggressive and impaired driving,” he said. “The team went above and beyond and I am so proud of them and the work they do daily.”

In 2022, more than one in five tickets by the Service was issued by a VZET officer.

To address the growing demands from communities throughout the city to increase road safety and support the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan adopted by the City of Toronto, the Service created the VZET in late 2020.

Sergeants Clint Stibbe and Brett Moore of Traffic Services played lead roles in the creation of the plan.

“Our officers do a lot of hard work every day, putting in a lot of hours and issuing a lot of tickets,” Moore said. “This award validates what we do to make to make roads safe.”

Along with Moore and Stibbe, the team comprises 16 Constables utilizing 10 unmarked vehicles.

“They volunteer for these spots and they enjoy their work,” said Moore, of the team of officers.

The team focusses on intercepting driving behaviours responsible for the most serious types of collisions across the city.

As a data-driven group, they use statistical data to create a deployment schedule that covers the many communities within Toronto, focusing on areas with increased traffic issues.

“The analytics are very useful, particularly when it comes to stunt driving, impaired driving and seat belt related offences as well as aggressive driving,” said Stibbe. “Distracted driving along with those continue to be a major problem for the city and our team continues to work day in and day out to make the roads safer.”

Since its inception, the VZET has issued 93,137 tickets.

In 2022, the team issued:

• 40,987 tickets (22 per cent of all Highway Traffic Act tickets issued service-wide)
• 26,227 speeding tickets
• 524 stunt-driving charges (resulting in 7,336 days of immediate vehicle impoundments and 15,270 days of driving license suspensions)
• 3,896 distracted driving related charges were laid (39% of all TPS)

In addition to their regular enforcement, VZET is involved with other provincial, municipal and TPS projects targeting community and complaint-driven traffic issues.