Lowering speed limits downtown
Re 30 km/h limit set for many downtown
streets, June 23 Attempts to lower the speed limit to 30 from 40 km/h on some residential streets in Toronto could very well be a complete waste of taxpayers’ money without making our streets any safer. Such attempts may be more counterproductive among some drivers whose impatience with the lower speeds may lead them to spontaneously ramp up their speed and cause an accident.
There are only two factors that can make our roads safer for everyone: 1. The police and the courts must work closer together to enforce the current by-laws and get the dangerous drivers off our streets;
2. Adults must serve as responsible role models to all children by being fully alert and not talking on their phones when crossing a street. Our schools and the police can work closer together to remind all students of this issue. Speed bumps have also been very helpful.
Our municipal councillors should stop focusing on unsubstantiated reports from certain lobby groups and start looking at the big picture. Robert Ariano, Scarborough The same city council that recently voted to spend an extra half billion dollars to keep the east end of the elevated Gardiner Expressway so as not to add an extra two minutes commute time for drivers has now decided to spend more of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money to reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h in several neighbourhoods. I’m sure that the lower speed limit will result in much more than two minutes of extra commute time for those in the affected areas.
I suspect the new signage and speed limit will have as much success as the signs that state “no ball playing” or “no street hockey.” The problem is not the speed limit but lack of enforcement of the current limit. The money would be better spent with the police services. Michel Dorge, Toronto There is no limit to the senseless silliness of some Toronto councillors it seems. There is no need to write a new speed limit law for East York and Toronto. Simply adopt the Red Flag Act of 1865 in the U.K., which limited speeds in the cities to 3.2 km/h and required a man on foot to walk ahead of the motor vehicle carrying a red flag or a lantern.
Young Ms. Walsh was sadly killed in an collision with a vehicle moving only about 5 km/h. Bert Dandy, Niagara Falls, Ont. East York Community council has voted to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h for safety. Why stop there? Why not reduce them to 10 km/h? Walking pace. Then it will be almost impossible to die in a traffic accident. After all, how many people die from walking into a wall?
Then Toronto can have streets where everything moves at a walking pace, like in downtown Delhi. We can return to donkeys and horses for transport, as they will also be comfortable at that speed, and move well with the traffic.
Let’s return to the 18th century. At these speeds, even texting while driving should be safe and acceptable. Edward A. Collis, Burlington, Ont. How can it be that the solution to unending traffic congestion in Toronto is to slow down drivers even more? Why not increase construction of roadwork at the same time? Then there will be no worries about traffic or pedestrians or anything that moves above ground.
Hey, while we are at it, why not add HOV lanes to the downtown core? Ian Rattner, Toronto Let me get this straight. Council votes for the hybrid option on the Gardiner so that a few drivers do not lose two or three minutes of their time. At the same time, they decrease speed on side streets by 25 per cent, increasing driving time for all who use the roads. Only in Toronto. Julianna Drexler, Toronto