Toronto's Parkside Drive speed camera resurrected after being chopped down 6 times

CTV News

4 hours ago

Toronto's busiest automated speed cameras appears to be back up and running after it was chopped down for the sixth time.
In an email Monday morning, the advocacy group Safe Parkside captured images of crews erecting the camera on a street that runs parallel to High Park and serves as a gateway to Lake Shore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway.
The device has issued more than 68,500 speeding tickets and generated more than $7.3 million in traffic fines for the city, according to Safe Parkside, since it was installed in 2022. It was introduced in 2021, after a driver travelling at more than double the speed limit (then 50 km/h before it was reduced to 40 km/h) rear-ended a vehicle that was stopped in traffic and killed its two elderly occupants.
The camera was cut down the first time on Nov. 18 and reinstalled on Nov. 29—only to be cut down a second time less than 24 hours later.
It was felled again on Dec. 29 and dragged into High Park, where it was tossed in a lake.
In the latest act of vandalism, the camera was dismantled on July 9, despite the addition of a new police surveillance camera. It's unclear if any suspects have been identified in connection with the July 9 incident. Police tell CTV News Toronto the investigation is ongoing.
According to Safe Parkside, the City of Toronto's contract with Verra Mobility, which operates the cameras, requires any damaged or vandalized device to be repaired or replaced within 30 days. However, they said in this and the previous instances of vandalism, that requirement is not being met.
'Is reinstallation of the Parkside Drive speed camera being delayed in order to reduce the amount of times it can be vandalized? After all, you can't vandalize something that isn't there,' the group questioned.