Vandals have taken down the Parkside Drive speed camera in Toronto for the third time in recent weeks

[wonderingeye]

Here is a thought.... install the camera and it's pole on top of a cement pole. Let's see someone saw that down.

And/or install some nice speed bumps on the road. Nothing too harsh. Just enough to bottom out someone driving 15 k over the limit.

It is foolish to believe this is not costing taxpayers anything. The added cost of having the police patrol for this as well ad the effort the city wastes with the dealing with the issue. Also, I would assume the company that provides this service factors in this expense which is baked in to their fees.

It is a safety concern first and foremost. Lost someone who was hit by a driver doing 25 kmph. And that was the speed limit. Image being hit at 50 or 60?

Lastly, it is a nice sin tax for the city. Better this than raise property taxes.

 

[rhuarc29]

Snow plowing a street that has speed bumps makes it harder, but not impossible

Impossible for the drivers they get to plow the roads now. Especially last winter with how much snow we got, my mailbox is thrice a victim.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Impossible for the drivers they get to plow the roads now. Especially last winter with how much snow we got, my mailbox is thrice a victim

I'm not saying you're wrong per se, but this is what I found on google AI

Google Search

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

‘Nothing but a tax grab’: Ford warns municipalities to get rid of speed cameras or he will

Ontario government doubles down on removing ‘cash grab’ speed cameras this fall as 16 more damaged

The Ford government says it will remove automatic speed enforcement cameras this fall if municipalities do not take steps to scrap them.

www.cp24.com

 

[Adam_hadam]

While we're at it, can someone cut down the speed camera on Mortimer east of Broadview?

 

[squeezer]

If they would set the cameras at a reasonable speed, say 20 kms over, most would probably not complain, but they are set at around 9 or 10 km, which is a ridiculous tax grab.

 

[Anbarandy]

If they would set the cameras at a reasonable speed, say 20 kms over, most would probably not complain, but they are set at around 9 or 10 km, which is a ridiculous tax grab.

Yeah right.

20 over on a 30, or a 40 or a 50 or a 60 or even a 70 or a 80 kph road is an open invitation kill, maim, dismember and destroy.

Lunacy.

 

[Anbarandy]

‘Nothing but a tax grab’: Ford warns municipalities to get rid of speed cameras or he will

Ontario government doubles down on removing ‘cash grab’ speed cameras this fall as 16 more damaged

The Ford government says it will remove automatic speed enforcement cameras this fall if municipalities do not take steps to scrap them.

www.cp24.com

Just do your own job!

 

[GameBoy27]

Yeah right.

20 over on a 30, or a 40 or a 50 or a 60 or even a 70 or a 80 kph road is an open invitation kill, maim, dismember and destroy.

Lunacy.

Speaking of lunacy, do you actually believe a speed camera would've prevented a man who was driving at 100 km/h in a 50 km/h zone from plowing into the Toyota stopped at a red light? The answer is no. He was an irresponsible driver, who failed to stop and ran into the car, killing an elderly couple. Typical stopping distance from 100 km/h is between 7-9 car lengths. The reason he ran into the stopped car, was because he failed to apply the brakes in time. Unfortunately, a speed camera wasn't going to save them that day. In fact, by the sounds of it, the driver probably would've blown through the red light, had the Toyota not been stopped for it.

I'm sure if you if you were to analyze the data, that camera has caught many vehicles traveling way over the limit. Yet, they rarely leads to serious collisions. That's the reality.

 

[GameBoy27]

Why don't they install speed bumps on the road? No one can take down speed bumps.

CP

Because speed bumps (or speed humps) significantly slow down police, fire and ambulance services, increasing emergency response times and potentially causing delays. The added vertical motion can also be painful or even dangerous for patients, especially those with spinal injuries. As a result, these devices are generally avoided on primary emergency routes.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Because speed bumps (or speed humps) significantly slow down police, fire and ambulance services, increasing emergency response times and potentially causing delays. The added vertical motion can also be painful or even dangerous for patients, especially those with spinal injuries. As a result, these devices are generally avoided on primary emergency routes.

Do bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University Avenue also not slow down police, fire and ambulance services??

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

While we're at it, can someone cut down the speed camera on Mortimer east of Broadview?

Things can be arranged.

Bitcoins only

 

[GameBoy27]

Do bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University Avenue also not slow down police, fire and ambulance services??

Yes they do, but not as much as speed bumps. Parkside is a major north/south thoroughfare for emergency vehicles.

 

[squeezer]

Yeah right.

20 over on a 30, or a 40 or a 50 or a 60 or even a 70 or a 80 kph road is an open invitation kill, maim, dismember and destroy.

Lunacy.

The problem, as it stands today, is that Ford will have them removed due to the complaints. I was in Vaughan last week. I was driving along Rutherford at 60km, ok, I was doing 70ish, but then boom, I spotted a speed camera notice and a warning of 50KM...this is on Rutherford, 4 lane traffic, 2 pm, not a kid in sight. I quickly slow down to 50 to avoid a ticket and I get a dude behind me on my tail, frustrated and giving me the evil eye. I guess he didn't notice the warning.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Yes they do, but not as much as speed bumps. Parkside is a major north/south thoroughfare for emergency vehicles

Then I have the perfect solution

Google Search

 

[GameBoy27]

Then I have the perfect solution

Google Search

Not exactly a "perfect" solution. They don't work for police and ambulances.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Not exactly a "perfect" solution. They don't work for police and ambulances

The red truck is an ambulance, is it not??

 

[mandrill]

Yeah right.

20 over on a 30, or a 40 or a 50 or a 60 or even a 70 or a 80 kph road is an open invitation kill, maim, dismember and destroy.

Lunacy.

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants municipalities to get rid of automated speed cameras — or else he will.

The City of Toronto said Tuesday that several automated speed cameras were cut down in recent days, part of an ongoing trend that has seen 800 incidents of vandalism against the cameras reported to the city this year.




Ford called the cameras nothing more than a cash grab for the city and suggested there are better ways to deter speeding, particularly in school zones.

"If you want to slow down traffic at school, you put the big huge signs, big flashing lights, 'Crossing Area,'" he said after an unrelated speech Tuesday morning.

"People will slow down."

Toronto first asked for speed cameras back in 2016 and a year later, then-premier Kathleen Wynne made changes to the Highway Traffic Act to allow for automated speed camera use in school and community zones.

Toronto has had 75 automated speed cameras for years, and the city said in January it would be adding 75 more by the end of this year.

However, Ford indicated he has other plans.

"Hopefully the cities will get rid of them like Mayor (Steven) Del Duca did in Vaughan, or I'm going to help them get rid of them very shortly," he said.




NDP Leader Marit Stiles scoffed when she heard the premier's comments.

"What an idiotic thing to say," she said.

The cameras are about trying to ensure road safety, aside from the issue of municipal revenue generation, Stiles said.

"I think that if you're speeding, you should stop speeding, because kids are going to get killed and pedestrians get killed, and nobody, nobody wants to hurt anyone," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2025.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press

Looks like the Premier is going to step in and resolve the issue!

 

[mandrill]

Yeah right.

20 over on a 30, or a 40 or a 50 or a 60 or even a 70 or a 80 kph road is an open invitation kill, maim, dismember and destroy.

Lunacy.

SMH!

 

[mandrill]

More Toronto speed cameras were found damaged on Tuesday morning, only two days after the Parkside Drive speed camera was cut down for the seventh time in less than a year.

In an email to CBC, Toronto police confirmed 16 speed cameras were damaged overnight throughout the city. They said officers are investigating, but provided no further details.



Some of the damaged speed cameras include the two found cut down on O'Connor Drive, west of Coxwell Avenue, and Lake Shore Boulevard, just west of Woodbine Avenue

Coun. Brad Bradford posted a picture on social media on Tuesday showing the cut down speed camera on Lake Shore Boulevard.

"This is unacceptable. The perpetual struggle to keep these cameras up is becoming a joke," Bradford wrote.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford said he is against the speed cameras and called them a "tax grab."

He said Toronto should get rid of all of the cameras, just like Vaughan did.

A spokesperson for the City of Toronto said they are aware that multiple speed cameras were vandalized overnight and are asking anyone with information to contact the police. (Paul Smith/CBC)
"Get rid of the speed cameras or I'm going to do it," said Ford.

Ford told reporters that he is "all about public safety," but that he's against taxes brought on by people's deaths.

"If you want to slow down traffic at school, you put the big huge signs, big flashing lights, crossing area, people will slow down," he said. "Why don't we put a police officer with a radar gun there every once in a while?"




NDP Leader Marit Stiles scoffed when she heard the premier's comments.

"What an idiotic thing to say," she said.

The cameras are about trying to ensure road safety, aside from the issue of municipal revenue generation, Stiles said.

"I think that if you're speeding, you should stop speeding, because kids are going to get killed and pedestrians get killed, and nobody, nobody wants to hurt anyone," she said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the City of Toronto said they are aware that multiple speed cameras were vandalized overnight and are asking anyone with information to contact the police.

"The City of Toronto condemns all vandalism of these speed cameras. Damaging these devices allows dangerous speeding to continue and undermines the safety of vulnerable road users, as all ASE devices are located in Community Safety Zones such as near schools, playgrounds and hospitals," said Laura McQuillan.




McQuillan said the city is working with police on solutions to prevent future incidents of vandalism.

So far this year, the City of Toronto has imposed about $45.1 million in speed camera fines, McQuillan said, adding that in April, the city doubled the number of speed camera devices from 75 to 150.

She said the city does not own any of the cameras as they are a vendor-provided service, and there is no cost to the city, and no additional taxpayer dollars are spent when a speed camera is damaged, as this is built into the contract with the vendor.

16 Toronto speed cameras damaged overnight, as Ford urges city to do away with 'tax grab'