July 29, 2022 - (Toronto, ON) Toronto lawyer and cycling advocate, David Shellnut, has sent a letter to Mayor John Tory outlining his concerns regarding, “Toronto Police have descended on the park, in SUVs, to target, harass, and ticket people exercising and getting to work.”
Shellnut, who runs a popular on-line social media channel @TheBikingLawyer, points out that, “it is one in a series of examples of police resources being aimed without purpose or rational justification supported by The Toronto Police’s own data.”
He promotes safety for all users, and also claims that “No where else do we see this kind of sustained enforcement on our streets – TPS has laid bear their biased “enforcement” of the Highway Traffic Act.
Read the full letter below.
July 27, 2022
Mayor John Tory
City of Toronto
City Hall, 2nd Floor
100 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
RE: Toronto Police Ticketing Cyclists in High Park
Dear Mayor Tory,
Around this time last year, we asked that Toronto Police refrain from ticketing cyclists in High Park and proposed alternative means to addressing community concerns. Resources would be better spent targeting the statistically more significant traffic violations and dangerous driving caused by motorists.
Since then, as summer has ushered in another beautiful cycling season, Toronto Police have descended on the park, in SUVs, to target, harass, and ticket people exercising and getting to work. Just yesterday, a BIPOC cyclist advised me of the following encounter (he has emailed you as well):
“The police officer was driving his SUV in the bike lane, so I tried to get around him from the left. He gave me a warning for speeding. I asked him not to drive in the bike lane and squeeze people in. He proceeded to speed up pull up in front of me in an aggressive way and make me stop. I asked the officer if he was detaining me. He then gave me a $65 for ‘engaging in prohibited activity’.”
He was ticked for Trespassing, engaging in a prohibited activity, cycling in a park. You then commented publicly that you support the police ticketing cyclists in the park.
This is one in a series of examples of police resources being aimed without purpose or rational justification. The Toronto Police’s own data demonstrates that only 6 incidents of death or serious injury (KSI) have been caused by cyclists (1 in High Park) since 2006, whereas 17,000 KSI incidents have been caused by motor vehicles in that period in Toronto.
This is to say nothing of Parkside Drive where the Avila’s were killed last year.
The problem is that by continually to target people on bikes in a park, TPS has laid bear their biased “enforcement” of the Highway Traffic Act. No where else do we see this kind of sustained enforcement on our streets, targeting the main culprits of death and injury, dangerous and distracted drivers. Motorists wreak an incredible financial cost on our city, health care system and communities for such incidents. Think of the savings if only we reduced dangerous driving by a quarter, implemented automatic ticketing for parking in bike lanes or for people who drive through open Streetcar doors.
Think also of the cost to our courts in time and resources adjudicating over these cyclist tickets, which will and have been contested and then thrown out as baseless in many cases. Our courts are incredibly overburdened. What scant resources remain should be dedicated to serious Highway Traffic Act infractions. TPS could find them at nearly any intersection in the city, especially those with bike lanes.
We recognize our neighbours concerns, feeling uneasy with speeding cyclists in High Park. That is why we support full engagement with the High Park Movement Strategy. It is also why we developed with our partners a High Park Cyclist Code of Conduct and pop up morning cycling loop (like Central Park or Montreal’s F1 Track).
Community solutions to community problems. We believe that working with cyclists and other park users is the solution to our problems, not police in SUVs on car free weekends.
Other stake holders and I would be happy to engage in further discussions on this issue but ask that Toronto Police be put on notice that this behaviour is unwarranted, unnecessary and contrary to the safe communities we want to build together.
Kind Regards,
Dave Shellnutt
Lawyer & Advocate
Cc: community stakeholders and news media.
David Shellnutt (he/him)
The Biking Lawyer LLP
Lawyer & Advocate
926 College Street
Toronto, ON M6H 1A4
T/F: 647.725.7751
dave@thebikinglawyer.ca
www.thebikinglawyer.ca
*Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit & the Dish with One Spoon Wampum
