After the police bike blitz

At the launch of this year's "Safe Cycling - Share the Responsibility" campaign aka the "bike blitz", the cops promised to focus on aggressive cyclists and car drivers endangering cyclists. How effective have they been in targeting the worst offenders? Or have they once again mostly set up sting operations to catch cyclists doing "rolling stops"?

The results are in (pdf). Sixty-two percent of all tickets were given to drivers with 59% of all tickets going to drivers in incidences with cyclists. There are bound to be more tickets for drivers than cyclists since there are just more of them on the road, but it's interesting that the police have ticketed a lot of motorists where cyclists are also involved. I can't find the results from last year so I can't say if this points to the police changing their tactics at all.

Last year the police gave out 6,671 tickets, according to the Bike Joint, and this year 5,907. I have to agree with Bike Joint that it doesn't seem like they tried too hard to find bike lane parking violations.

Officers issued 5,907 tickets to motorists and cyclists who were found committing offences. Of
the tickets issued:
• 3,502 tickets were issued to motorists for offences such as opening vehicle doors improperly
and failing to yield to cyclists,
• 1,373 tickets were issued to cyclists for moving violations including disobeying traffic signals
and failing to yield to pedestrians,
• 747 tickets were issued to cyclists for bicycle equipment offences,
• 84 people under the age of 18 were charged with not wearing helmets,
• 198 parking tickets were issued for parking in designated bike lanes,
• 852 motorists and cyclists were cautioned with respect to a variety of related offences, and
• 10 bike rodeos/lectures involving 411 participants were held across the city.

During the blitz Sgt. Tim Burrows responded to Mez comments on how to make the bike blitz more effective instead of just pouncing on regular cyclists:

Thanks for coming out to the campaign launch. I’m glad you got an opportunity to have some one on one time with PC Hugh Smith…yes his real name! (On a side, call me anytime you want an interview or information…I have as much time for bloggers, freelance and SMS media as I do for Mainstream)
The comments that you and your posters have made are all worthwhile…even the ones that I don’t necessarily agree with. They create conversation which can lead to some great information, education and awareness for both the cyclists and the police.
We could probably agree to disagree on a few things, (wrong way on one way streets, prohibited turns), while there is agreement on other points (no sting operations just to generate tickets, go after drivers who endanger lives).
This campaign is based on four equally important criteria:
1. Education
2. Awareness
3. Enformcement
4. Media
Education leads to awarenss, enforcement is necessary for when education and awareness are ignored or not suitable and the media is key for introducing the intent, understanding and communication to society.
Whether anyone agrees with the campaign or not, we believe it is fundamental to reducing collision, injuries and death on Toronto’s streets. And really, isn’t that what we all want?
Last year tickets written to cyclists for the year accounted to about half of one percent of all the tickets written in Toronto. Rhetorical question here…would it not be great if we couldn’t write any tickets because there was 100% compliance on the laws, rules and regulations…personnally, I’d be extatic with that!!!!
Thanks for creating the conversation and being there.

The greenr blogclaims that the cops have not been particularly effective. In practice it's pretty hard to just focus on the worst offenders since they're harder to find.

From young women wearing helmets to a gentleman in a suit and tie with a trusty pant-leg Velcro fastener, they were one by one pulled over as looks of shock settled over their faces. The shock increased as a cop got out, accused them of going through a stop sign and slapped them with a hefty fine. It was surprising (or not) to note that these cyclists did not look to be the criminal type, nor did they look as if they could care less about their safety or that of others.

It appears that the cops are trying to do a better job of communicating with the public and tailoring their programs for the better. But I've been known to be perpetually naive despite all the evidence. I do hope the cops could put their weight behind much more comprehensive education programs. 10 bike rodeos across the city is just a drop in the bucket. They are also completely inadequate for preparing kids and adults to become effective cyclists on the road. They can't keep up the illusion that every cyclist will know the rules of the road because they'll have their driver's license. Neither can they claim that motorists know how to deal with cyclists and give them enough room when there is next to nothing in the driver's handbook on cycling.