TPS: Operation Safe Commute

So they're only going to do their job for one week in the middle of the freaking winter.
Great. Thanks.

What about the rest of the year? Why do people get away with breaking the rules and endangering lives for the other 51 weeks ???

...the police conducted a similar operation and issued more than 1200 tickets to cyclists and almost 5,000 to motorists. Another project later in the year resulted in another 1200+ tickets to cyclists. But during the remaining 50 weeks of the year only about 150 tickets were issued to cyclists, according to PC Mig Roberts of Toronto Police Services. What this means is the police pretty much ignore cyclists unless there is a specific operation. 98% of all tickets are issued to cyclists during these 'blitzes.

Below, I offer a copy of the (as yet unpublished) article I wrote following my interview with PC Roberts:

Seeing Red
By Joe LaFortune

Just mention cyclists to any Toronto motorists and they’ll be only too happy to tell you that cyclists don’t know the rules of the road and they never stop at red lights or stop signs. But is that true? Do the majority of cyclists run red lights and stop signs? Are cyclists less educated about the rules of the road than motorists? Or, are those who make such claims, conveniently ignoring the number of motorists who do the same things as cyclists and more?

According to PC Miguel Roberts of Toronto Police Services: Traffic Division, during the Safe Cycling Program conducted by Toronto Police Services from June 18-24, the peak period for cycling in Toronto, approximately 1,200 cyclists were ticketed compared to 4,792 motorists. Motorists faced a variety of charges not generally applicable to cyclists, however: speeding, seat-belt violations and parking in bike lanes among others.

Cyclists were cited for riding on the sidewalk, riding double, careless driving, no light or horn and unsafe lane changes, but 633---55%---of the charges were for running red lights and stop signs.

Realistically, there are approximately 400,000 daily cyclists riding through the 24-week peak period. Any one week period in June is considered an average week for the cycling season. 633 cited cyclists represent about 0.16% of all cyclists. Over an average year, a total of about 15 million cyclists are on the road in Toronto and with 0.16% running reds and stop signs that means cyclists run red lights and stop signs approximately 16-17,000 times annually. Because cyclists are essentially unidentifiable and the risk of being caught is low and the consequences negligible---they can’t lose their cycling privileges---cyclists likely knowingly violate certain rules when the opportunity presents itself, just as motorists do.

From November 12-18, police cited 521 vehicles for red light infractions and another 1,017 for failing to stop at stop signs. Almost all the offenders were motor vehicles.

In January, during a 5 day period, 684 motorists were cited for red light and stop sign offences. 549 more were charged during Operation Safe Journey from March 19-25. 1,500 more were charged with various intersection-related offences including running reds in an October week. It is estimated that, over the course of a year, motorists run reds and stop signs almost 80,000 times whereas cyclists run reds and stop signs only 21,000 times.

There are about 1.1 million local and visiting vehicles during any given mid-week day throughout the year, meaning 0.14% are running red lights and stop signs-almost exactly as many as cyclists.

But the accusations by many motorists are not just that cyclists always run red lights and stop signs, but that they don’t know the rules of the road either.

About 80% of all adult cyclists are also licensed drivers and, presumably, just as familiar with the Highway Traffic Act and the violations they are committing as everyday motorists.

So far, this year, 612,880 citations have been issued to motorists while cyclists have been ticketed 2,581 times. Over 368 million motor vehicles could have earned tickets. That means that about 0.17% of motorists have received tickets so far this year, compared to 0.18% of cyclists.

Not surprisingly, motorists pose a much greater safety risk to the public. While the same percentage of cyclists are running reds and stop signs, Roberts points out, he cannot recall even one instance of a collision occurring when a cyclist ran a red, but there have been 2 deaths among several red-light collisions in the first ten months of this year. Furthermore, there have been a total of 43 fatalities between Jan-Oct: 18 drivers, 8 passengers and 3 cyclist deaths this year as well as 19 pedestrian deaths, but that number is down from previous years. 4 motor-cyclists have also died. No deaths have been caused by cyclists and less than 10% of all accidents involving cars and bikes were the fault of the cyclist.

So, are cyclists more dangerous operators of their vehicles than motorists? Do they openly and flagrantly snub their nose at the law as many motorists claim? Are cyclists ignorant of the rules of the road? The answers are clear: No. There are more instances of motorists running reds and stop signs, but the same percentage of cyclists commit the same infractions. Motorists run red lights at high-risk intersections whereas cyclists usually commit their infractions at low-risk intersections and motorists---not cyclists---cause far more serious consequences when they run red lights and stop signs. But both motorists and cyclists try to get away with whatever they can whenever they can. And both need to stop.