Toronto Police Services have a new 2008 Traffic Issues Survey online.
This questionnaire was designed to find out how you feel about traffic issues in Toronto, and the Toronto Police response to these issues. Your answers will be strictly confidential and your participation is appreciated.
The survey starts out by asking if you're primarily a motorist, passenger, transit user, cyclist or pedestrian. Let's get some cyclists to provide answers!
Bad Cabbie
Questions on this survey span various topics such as collisions, responses to collisions, what factors influence traffic flow, satisfaction with the police, neighbourhood issues, city-wide issues, and much more.
Please take a few moments to fill out the survey and let the Toronto Police know how cyclists feel while riding on city streets. You can answer it online until march 14th.
Comments
Aidan
"lies, damned lies and statistics"
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 15:11Completed the survey, but don't believe it will help us. It's a survey on perceptions. Since the police have theirs, which are not ours, the perception will remain that we are a whiney bunch of cranks. There is no opportunity to comment on the choices you make on the survey, which would be vital if the perceptions were going to be usefully interpreted.
Svend
I'm overwhelmed with
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 15:45I'm overwhelmed with surveys, this is the fourth one I've done this week. The CAA actually gave me a $10 discount for my views earlier today, it gave me a line to complain about their anti-cycling lobbying at City Hall.
It's good to know people care about my opinion, I just wish it would translate into progress instead of just another report that is filed.
Even so, I continue to fill them out...
Darren_S
Twist and Shout.
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 15:58Looking at those questions makes me wonder how the answers will get twisted. For instance capture rates where it asks you what percentage of infractions get caught by police. While almost every driver busts a speed limit each time they drive how many actually view it as unacceptable.
vic
Capture rates
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 16:02I think I said 1% for all the capture rates, which is probably pretty generous.
Kevin (not verified)
I also put 1-5% for capture
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 17:03I also put 1-5% for capture rates except illegal parking. That got 20%. As soon as the city makes money they become efficient.
Darren_S
1%-5% & 20%
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 17:54That was my range too, though with Vic with it probably being high. I wonder what drivers think. Hopefully the survey will be made public along with what the cops think the actual numbers are.
geoffrey (not verified)
dishonest and leading
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 06:30I can't believe this. In this day and age when the city is making overtures toward making streets more pedestrian friendly this LEADING, BIASED piece of garbage is put up by Toronto Police? The survey makes the assumption streets are solely for getting places and cannot be destinations on their own. The "flow of (motorvehicle) traffic" is somehow more important than accomodating all entitled road users.
Its time to take this to your councillors. Complain. The police will use this to manipulate a crackdown on pedestrians and cyclists lawfully using the road.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080209/pedestrian_death...
"According to Traffic Services Const. Mark Melby, a large number of the deaths are caused by pedestrians crossing at inappropriate times and places.
"Often they are jaywalking, crossing against the light or just being on the road when they shouldn't," he told CTV.ca, noting that clothing selection can also be a factor in pedestrian safety. "People that get hit are often dressed inconspicuously, wearing black."
Lets see. Four pedestrain deaths. One guilty of using a crosswalk while wearing dark clothing (?!), another guilty of crossing the street rather than walking a quarter mile to the nearest intersection. We have a problem. The police are autoholic and need treatment.
geoffrey (not verified)
Dear Councillor Perks and
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 09:43Dear Councillor Perks and Aides
I reviewed the following with rising horror:
https://secure.torontopolice.on.ca/survey/public/survey.php?name=cpn0021
I strongly believe manipulating public opinion with questions
like;
Please indicate the degree to which you feel each of the
following factors affects traffic flow in the City of Toronto.
Pedestrian volumeand
Traffic offences (vehicle/pedestrian/cyclist)
(though included with vehicles despite MTO HTA defines bicycles
as vehicles) lead the motoring public to blame pedestrians and cyclists
and will as a result be used by the same as reason to direct road rage at
these entitled road users.
I find this survey extremely leading and dishonest in
manipulating public opinion. It also makes the flawed conclusion roads
are solely for conducting motor vehicle traffic and other road users
must be reigned in. What happened to the city endeavour to make our
streets "pedestrian friendly"? The police appear to be throwing that
out the window with this survey.
With this I ask you to see this slanted poll be taken down and
any results destroyed before they can be used to manipulate policy.
Furthermore I think it reasonable the police make a public apology to
pedestrians and cyclists and actively discourage motorists from
aggressively expressing their consternation at being inconvenienced by
those pedestrians and bicyclists who might find themselves in their
paths.
Your sincerely
hamish (not verified)
carism exists
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 10:11Some cops aren't "carist", and we can't stereotype, but there is such a discrimination as "carism", and as Weltschmerz noted once, a motto of our police might be "to swerve and project", though the term "passhole" was inspired by a cyclist.
Maybe 10% of our police force lives inside Caronto, but tying civic employment with living inside the civic boundaries was resisted by the police union with a successful suit against it under Charter rights. Presumably they bring their cartillery to work and don't transit.
There was a situation at a North York cyclist memorial where a full cement truck had a brake failure, smoked and blared through a rush hour intersection, with nobody killed, and no smearious crash. I saw it move north again about five minutes later and caught a tag, and emailed it in to the city later. But they responded with a non-response as it wasn't seen by the police, and I haven't followed it up, though Vic, you were there, so maybe you'd be the witness.
I guess we have to do both: fill in the survey, and complain about it.
Thanks for the heads-up!
vic
Runaway truck
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 11:16Yes, I was there and saw it. I was frantically shouting and waving at people to stop so they wouldn't get creamed by that truck.
The driver handled the situation pretty well, but dammit they should NOT have kept going after that happened. It could have been disastrous.
Dylan (not verified)
I was annoyed to see
Mon, 03/17/2008 - 17:43I was annoyed to see "pedestrians crossing mid-block" under the section describing traffic offences. It's not actually illegal for pedestrians to cross mid-block, if there's a break in traffic. You'd think the police would actually know the law (individual officers I've talked to know this, but the overall police culture seems to remain resolutely unaware).