Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

[Northern Light]

I don't know if it was among the deaths mentioned in this thread (sadly, there have been so many)........but one occurred not so long ago at the intersection of Donlands and O'Connor which has a been
a problematic intersection for some time.

All of which is preface that there is a very reasonable petition one might choose to sign in the hopes of prompting some useful action there.

Safer Streets East York

What the petition seeks:

Its addressed to: n

Can't hurt..............though Fletcher who likes to drive everywhere, and be on the phone, while virtually attending Council Meetings.........may not inspire a lot of faith....

 

[evandyk]

The different version government has envisioned for us is one where you don't control and likely don't own a vehicle at all. Instead when you want to go somewhere a government-control autonomous taxi will pick you up and take you to where you want to go, all the while tracking where you went and likely through the RFID tags, what you bought (Statistics Canada and CRA needs to know). It's safer for sure, more young people will live to die by the second leading cause of death, themselves. But that is the greater good.

But if you haven't driven a car or ridden a motorcycle across the top of Lake Superior or just across the countryside above Toronto, without any controls or much safety beyond your own wits and trust in your fellows, you don't know the freedom that we're all so willing to surrender to the government. I know the world is changing, we demand an overseeing, all-knowing state to protect us, and I'll accept the consensus, but I remain glad that I lived much of my life beforehand.

I own a car and have in fact driven it both across the top of Lake Superior and in the countryside around Toronto. And yet, we could make driving a lot safer for everybody without even tracking you with government controlled taxis. Things like raised intersections, bump-outs at corners, lower speed limits, automatic speed and red light enforcement.

 

[Northern Light]

There's a public, virtual meeting tonight on re-designing the streets of Kensington Market.

A tremendous opportunity for greening, aesthetics, safety etc.

The web page is here: https://www.toronto.ca/community-pe...rastructure-projects/kensington-safe-streets/

The presentation slide deck is here: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...al-Public-Meeting-2021-10-28Accessibility.pdf

Options being looked at, from the above:

Short, Online Survey, here: https://s.cotsurvey.chkmkt.com/kensingtonsafestreets

 

[nfitz]

... the freedom that we're all so willing to surrender to the government.

The government? Or the insurance companies?

 

[DirectionNorth]

The government? Or the insurance companies?

Both, if you really want to know.

 

[afransen]

I agree enforcement is necessary, but people will drive at whatever speed the road is designed for. Since when have people actually driven 100 km/h or less (when traffic is clear) on the 400s?

If you need to use enforcement to get drivers to slow down, the design is wrong. It's always design first, and enforcement becomes relatively unnecessary.

 

[afransen]

Based on the past, they aren't even going to "educate drivers". They'll just hand out more neon armbands for pedestrians because it's obviously exclusively their fault they keep dying.

Should give buildings armbands while we're at it.

 

[afransen]

If this was indeed what happened, the design of Danforth had no bearing on the incident. The driver was negligent in making sure they were clear to make the turn and it cost a young girl her life.

Proper design does not rely on people never making mistakes for safety. When people make common mistakes, it shouldn't have a high probability of causing severe injury or death. It is bad design to require drivers to divide their attention 2-3 ways to execute a maneuver safely.

 

[afransen]

There's a public, virtual meeting tonight on re-designing the streets of Kensington Market.

A tremendous opportunity for greening, aesthetics, safety etc.

The web page is here: https://www.toronto.ca/community-pe...rastructure-projects/kensington-safe-streets/

The presentation slide deck is here: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...al-Public-Meeting-2021-10-28Accessibility.pdf

Options being looked at, from the above:

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Short, Online Survey, here: https://s.cotsurvey.chkmkt.com/kensingtonsafestreets

They missed a big benefit of permeable unit pavers: the added noise and vibration felt by drivers aids compliance with speed limits.

Rather than relying on painted lane markings, you could use different colour pavers.

 

[evandyk]

Kensington should be mostly closed to cars. There's no reason a private vehicle should be driving through Kensington.

 

[crs1026]

Kensington should be mostly closed to cars. There's no reason a private vehicle should be driving through Kensington.

It is already closed to cars on some Sundays (maybe only the last Sunday of the month?). It's hugely popular.

- Paul

 

[H4F33Z]

There's a public, virtual meeting tonight on re-designing the streets of Kensington Market.

A tremendous opportunity for greening, aesthetics, safety etc.

The web page is here: https://www.toronto.ca/community-pe...rastructure-projects/kensington-safe-streets/

The presentation slide deck is here: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...al-Public-Meeting-2021-10-28Accessibility.pdf

Options being looked at, from the above:

View attachment 358994

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View attachment 358998

Short, Online Survey, here: https://s.cotsurvey.chkmkt.com/kensingtonsafestreets

The entirety of Europe would be shaking their heads at this. Why isn't full pedestrianization during the day not on the table? Extremely high pedestrian traffic and narrow streets would make this a perfect candidate for pedestrianization.

 

[Northern Light]

The entirety of Europe would be shaking their heads at this. Why isn't full pedestrianization during the day not on the table? Extremely high pedestrian traffic and narrow streets would make this a perfect candidate for pedestrianization.

Fill out the survey!

I suggested that I would endorse the 'shared streets' concept if it was used for pedestrian-only purposes during times of typical customer traffic; and permitted vehicles only to service businesses, as needed, in off-peak times. (nights/early mornings etc.)

I emphasized there should be zero parking, as off-street facilities (Green P) is already available.

 

[ADRM]

The reason that Kensington does not have more frequent and/or extensive pedestrianization is Mike Layton is afraid of the BIA. It is frustratingly simple and stupid.

I would suggest anyone who is inclined to fill out the survey also flip an email to Mike’s office and the BIA.

 

[lenaitch]

I don’t see why cars can’t be equipped to “rat out” their drivers using some combination of auditory/visual alarms, data recording, and telemetry. Many already record the data against a catastrophic event. Given appropriate safeguards, there are no real Big Brother obstacles. And if driving is a privilege not a right….. well, trust but verify say I.

The technology largely exists already (except the 'rat-out' part); all the vehicles really need is more memory. Currently, vehicle event recorders only capture dynamic inputs for a brief period before a crash. There would also have to be international cooperation since we largely follow US vehicle standards.

However, privilege or not, the Courts' position on the State's ability to access the information (reasonable expectation of privacy, self incrimination, etc.) has been fairly clear for a while now.