Topic: ‘It’s Incredibly Scary How Bad Our Drivers Are,’ Says Viral Toronto TikTok Cop

[AutoTrader.ca]

He dishes on some misinformation regarding “ticket quotas.”
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[Allen]

There truly is an astonishing number of lousy drivers in the GTA. I have to avoid a crazy situation about once a month..

[Fobroader]

Maybe speed shouldn't be your only concern, how about focusing on crappy drivers education, people unable to merge, hogging the passing lane, blowing through reds, stopping on merges/merging on yields.....

[Allen]

Maybe speed shouldn't be your only concern, how about focusing on crappy drivers education, people unable to merge, hogging the passing lane, blowing through reds, stopping on merges/merging on yields.....

I should have been  clearer it's all above you mentioned,, I would say speed is near the bottom of the list

[ArticSteve]

1/5th of the GTA arrived in the country during the past 2 years.  Virtually none of them had vehicles back in the home country.  The vast majority are young male "students".  All in all, they're not doing too badly.

The 403 north bound from the 401 up thru Brampton just has to be the wildest ride in NA.  6-8 lanes one way, blacked out Japanese/German cars doing 150 crossing 6 lanes every minute.  Total disregard for the HOV boundary lane.  Pretty sure the OPP has abandoned this stretch.   For those 8 minutes you are indeed in a different country.  I'm super defensive on being sideswiped. Makes for a perfect commercial for a GoPro. 

[aquadorhj]

i wish police would actually patrol and police the traffic... not just sit at the side and point speed gun down high way...

like, ticketing people for
-going too slow (merge, left lane etc),
-illegally modified cars,
-having non operating lights, shi11ty tires, etc
-dangerous operation of vehicles like moving all over the place, stopping where you aren't supposed to, etc.
-cell phone

i think i see uber drivers do at least 2 of the above everyday i drive...

[JohnnyMac]

i wish police would actually patrol and police the traffic... not just sit at the side and point speed gun down high way...

like, ticketing people for
-going too slow (merge, left lane etc),
-illegally modified cars,
-having non operating lights, shi11ty tires, etc
-dangerous operation of vehicles like moving all over the place, stopping where you aren't supposed to, etc.
-cell phone

i think i see uber drivers do at least 2 of the above everyday i drive...

Agreed, maybe speed traps should be in place to keep speeding in check, have red light cameras to catch those running lights, and have the police to focus on other driving infractions.  Maybe more road blocks to catch those without registration, insurance, or safety/inspection. 

That being said, people are not going to be happy with any police presence so it’s a damned if you and damned if you don’t regardless.

[dkaz]

Sean Shapiro covers a lot of all of that in the excellent Toronto Traffic Services Tiktok/Instagram account.

Maybe speed shouldn't be your only concern, how about focusing on crappy drivers education, people unable to merge, hogging the passing lane, blowing through reds, stopping on merges/merging on yields.....

We're not talking about the cute 5, 10, 15 over the limit in the Edmonton area, Toronto and Vancouver drivers will go 20, 40, 60 above the limit.  The flow of traffic in Vancouver's 90 limit Highway 1 is often 110-120.

[Gurgie]

1/5th of the GTA arrived in the country during the past 2 years.  Virtually none of them had vehicles back in the home country.  The vast majority are young male "students".  All in all, they're not doing too badly.

The 403 north bound from the 401 up thru Brampton just has to be the wildest ride in NA.  6-8 lanes one way, blacked out Japanese/German cars doing 150 crossing 6 lanes every minute.  Total disregard for the HOV boundary lane.  Pretty sure the OPP has abandoned this stretch.   For those 8 minutes you are indeed in a different country.  I'm super defensive on being sideswiped. Makes for a perfect commercial for a GoPro. 

^this

Sent from my SM-S901W using Tapatalk

[Gurgie]

i wish police would actually patrol and police the traffic... not just sit at the side and point speed gun down high way...

like, ticketing people for
-going too slow (merge, left lane etc),
-illegally modified cars,
-having non operating lights, shi11ty tires, etc
-dangerous operation of vehicles like moving all over the place, stopping where you aren't supposed to, etc.
-cell phone

i think i see uber drivers do at least 2 of the above everyday i drive...

^and this!

Sent from my SM-S901W using Tapatalk

[warp]

1/5th of the GTA arrived in the country during the past 2 years.  Virtually none of them had vehicles back in the home country.  The vast majority are young male "students".  All in all, they're not doing too badly.

The 403 north bound from the 401 up thru Brampton just has to be the wildest ride in NA.  6-8 lanes one way, blacked out Japanese/German cars doing 150 crossing 6 lanes every minute.  Total disregard for the HOV boundary lane.  Pretty sure the OPP has abandoned this stretch.   For those 8 minutes you are indeed in a different country.  I'm super defensive on being sideswiped. Makes for a perfect commercial for a GoPro. 

It's an aspirational thing for most of these "students". Newly arrived "students", buying Audi Q5s with no clue how to drive here. I wonder how many have valid driving licenses, no way I see MTO being able to process 1 million plus driving tests in one year!! I bet if the cops do a random stop of this 410 traffic heading north, they will find a good proportion without licenses.

[ktm525]

Sean Shapiro covers a lot of all of that in the excellent Toronto Traffic Services Tiktok/Instagram account.

Maybe speed shouldn't be your only concern, how about focusing on crappy drivers education, people unable to merge, hogging the passing lane, blowing through reds, stopping on merges/merging on yields.....

We're not talking about the cute 5, 10, 15 over the limit in the Edmonton area, Toronto and Vancouver drivers will go 20, 40, 60 above the limit.  The flow of traffic in Vancouver's 90 limit Highway 1 is often 110-120.

The 90 is artificially low then if the flow exceeds it by that much. Go with the flow. 

[DriverJeff]

Having spent more time driving in Europe in the past year than I normally get to do, what's really stuck with me is the prevailing attitude difference of drivers there versus here.  In Europe (and indeed, even when driving / riding in the Middle East and Asia, as well), drivers are still defensive. They're aware of their surroundings and don't take every situations as a personal challenge.

Here:  "There's a small gap ahead of me and I just noticed someone in the merge lane... I'd better close that gap so they can't get in front of me."

vs. There:  "I notice someone in the merge lane. I'll adjust my speed or change lanes to allow that person to merge"


It's not a competition. There are no bonus points for being a self-righteous dick to everyone around you.  Be aware. Be respectful.  That truck didn't cut you off to offend you, it simply needed to get over because his lane is disappearing. 

And for the love of god, don't trundle along in the leftmost lane doing exactly the speed limit! 

[dkaz]

The 90 is artificially low then if the flow exceeds it by that much. Go with the flow. 

Except it's not, it's congested with lots of tailgating. Twelve vehicles all traveling 110+ and all leaving than less than a second between themselves and the car in front of them, it'll take one mistake to take them all out in a horrific crash. It's Vancouverites desperately trying to justify their existence there by trying to shave off 10 minutes off their hour+ long travel time during non rush hour to get from Langley to Vancouver because they can't afford to buy anything closer, but hey gotta live that Vancouver dream. My few days in Vancouver to pick up my 5 reminding me why I'm happy to not live there anymore.

[dkaz]

Having spent more time driving in Europe in the past year than I normally get to do, what's really stuck with me is the prevailing attitude difference of drivers there versus here.  In Europe (and indeed, even when driving / riding in the Middle East and Asia, as well), drivers are still defensive. They're aware of their surroundings and don't take every situations as a personal challenge.

Here:  "There's a small gap ahead of me and I just noticed someone in the merge lane... I'd better close that gap so they can't get in front of me."

vs. There:  "I notice someone in the merge lane. I'll adjust my speed or change lanes to allow that person to merge"


It's not a competition. There are no bonus points for being a self-righteous dick to everyone around you.  Be aware. Be respectful.  That truck didn't cut you off to offend you, it simply needed to get over because his lane is disappearing. 

And for the love of god, don't trundle along in the leftmost lane doing exactly the speed limit!

I'll give British Columbians credit for one thing, they are INCREDIBLY good at letting a car merge onto the freeway, and zipper merging.

[Firm]

1/5th of the GTA arrived in the country during the past 2 years.  Virtually none of them had vehicles back in the home country.  The vast majority are young male "students".  All in all, they're not doing too badly.

The 403 north bound from the 401 up thru Brampton just has to be the wildest ride in NA.  6-8 lanes one way, blacked out Japanese/German cars doing 150 crossing 6 lanes every minute.  Total disregard for the HOV boundary lane.  Pretty sure the OPP has abandoned this stretch.   For those 8 minutes you are indeed in a different country.  I'm super defensive on being sideswiped. Makes for a perfect commercial for a GoPro. 

^this

Sent from my SM-S901W using Tapatalk

That stretch would be considered the 410, no? But yeah, it's an experience that's for sure.

Driving in the south took some getting used to, but it's "better" for the most part. Way less congestion, and everyone cruises around 75-80mph, which is nice. I'd say the average skill level is better than the GTA, but way more texting/distracted driving, more cars obviously not fit for the road, no plates is common as well. Law enforcement in my area does very little about all that, so it's a bit of a free for all. Semi-Trucks camping in the left lane is probably my biggest irritation here, and it's a daily occurance....Again, truckers know that there's no enforcement on the 'trucks keep right' laws, so they do whatever the heck they want.

[rrocket]

And for the love of god, don't trundle along in the leftmost lane doing exactly the speed limit!

I do 5km/h over so as not to be a dick. LOL [emoji38]

On a serious note, it wouldn't matter if I was going 30 over the limit...because no self respecting person will let a Prius be going faster than them!

[sailor723]

Having spent more time driving in Europe in the past year than I normally get to do, what's really stuck with me is the prevailing attitude difference of drivers there versus here.  In Europe (and indeed, even when driving / riding in the Middle East and Asia, as well), drivers are still defensive. They're aware of their surroundings and don't take every situations as a personal challenge.

Here:  "There's a small gap ahead of me and I just noticed someone in the merge lane... I'd better close that gap so they can't get in front of me."

vs. There:  "I notice someone in the merge lane. I'll adjust my speed or change lanes to allow that person to merge"


It's not a competition. There are no bonus points for being a self-righteous dick to everyone around you.  Be aware. Be respectful.  That truck didn't cut you off to offend you, it simply needed to get over because his lane is disappearing. 

And for the love of god, don't trundle along in the leftmost lane doing exactly the speed limit!

I'll give British Columbians credit for one thing, they are INCREDIBLY good at letting a car merge onto the freeway, and zipper merging.

I find the US driver's pretty good in New England. Especially on the interstate. You'll routinely see traffic moving to the left as you come up to an onramp to allow traffic entering to have the right lane.

Agree completely about BC driver's understanding merging and the zipper merge. getting on the Lion's Gate Bridge from North Van is a great example of this.

[ArticSteve]

That stretch would be considered the 410, no? But yeah, it's an experience that's for sure.

Ya, thanks.