Pollyanna Pedestrian Policy—-a killer

Toronto has a major problem!  Pedestrians are losing their lives in frightening numbers!

The carnage, 9 dead in the first two months of the year, has finally caught the Mayor’s attention who declared in his typical leading from behind political style, “we cannot have this carnage continue.”

OK Mayor John Tory how do you plan to deal with this, “crisis?”

His boldest suggestion to date was  to ask city staff to consider how they might speed up the city’s road safety plans…yea right—he’s asking a desk bound staff, that are slaves to  processes, and hog-tied by a goofy “pedestrians are royalty” advocacy group  to solve “a major crisis .”  Good luck.

I’ve got a suggestion for you John, do what nobody at Gravy Train Central has thought of doing, go stand on a city intersection, any city intersection and the light will come one in a nano second and you’ll see why pedestrians are being cut down on Toronto’s streets in record numbers.

Today I stood at the corner of Bay and Cumberland and in three minutes counted 13 pedestrian violations–jay walking, walking against the lights, ignoring that flashing hand–as a matter of fact that flashing hand is the most useless appendage in the ineffective plan to save the endangered pedestrians……………..save the electricity that makes it flash and turn them off, nobody is paying attention to the message they are trying to portray at a thousand intersections.  A half hour later I was at the intersection of Bay and Yorkville….for those not familiar with Toronto Yorkville Village is Tony to a T..smart people walk the streets of Yorkville….but what I saw was a display of just plain stupidity!

Numerous repeats of what I saw at Bay and Cumberland but the one violation I had trouble getting my head around was watching a Mom and a Dad with two kindergarten age children defy the gods and cross Bay against a RED light….

Their defiance and all the other violations can be traced to the advocacy group called Walk Toronto..this group came into the city’s consciousness a few years ago with a message, “Pedestrians are royalty!” Toronto must modify it’s vehicular-centric mindset and embrace a culture shift around safety!  Well what’s wrong with that?

Not a thing!  But from that debut to the “crisis” today in early 2018 Walk Toronto and its adherents, some of them in City Council have talked only about motorists—motorists must slow down, motorists must be alert to jaywalkers, motorists have to take into consideration the right of people to walk anywhere in safety regardless of their predilection to disregard basic rules and common sense!  In the hand-wringing statements tumbling out of City Hall I have yet to see the obvious —that pedestrians bear as much responsibility for their safety as motorists.  And I guarantee until pedestrians in the city of Toronto are put on notice, by the members of Council and the police the carnage will continue.  Walk Toronto’s blind advocacy for the rights of pedestrians while pummeling motorists is exactly why Mayor Tory has a carnage problem and it’s why the streets of Toronto will continue to experience excessive pedestrian fatalities.

Walking casually while crossing a street,  playing with your cellphone may not be illegal but it’s classic stupidity–incredibly,  Walk Toronto thinks that’s Ok!  Because Walk Toronto speaks only for those who walk blindly ignoring the rules that are designed to keep them safe!

So Mayor John until the obvious is addressed…your best bet is to affix every major intersection in the city with a big sign that says—-

“Cross at your own risk.”

And spend a few moments away from your plush office and take in an intersection or two!

It will help you will grasp the obvious!