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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Parkside Dr. speed camera vandalized for fifth time in past 6 months
The Parkside Dr. speed camera, Toronto's busiest and most vandalized traffic enforcement tool, was cut down for a fifth time in the past six months. Advocacy group Safe Parkside revealed the latest malicious act on Friday. 'The lack of meaningful safety measures remains a big concern on Parkside Drive, a street that borders the city's busiest park, High Park, on the west side and is lined with residential family homes on the east side,' Faraz Gholizadeh, Safe Parkside Co-Chair, said in statement. 'Despite Parkside Drive's long and deadly history of speeding, the City of Toronto continues to overlook safety on Parkside Drive year after year.' In response, a city spokesperson said it 'condemns any incident of theft or vandalism of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) devices. Tampering with, damaging or stealing one of these devices allows dangerous speeding to continue and undermines the safety of all road users.' The spokesperson added the city is 'working with the contractor on other measures to help reduce incidents of vandalism. In addition to being pole-mounted, the Parkside Drive camera is remotely monitored so the contractor is notified in real time if the device goes offline unexpectedly.' The city says all cameras have an audible alarm on the device and are coated with a substance that allows the vendor to easily remove graffiti/spray paint. The spokesperson said cameras will always be repaired or replaced to keep them in operation and while the city does not own any of the ASE devices as they are a vendor-provided service, it is the vendor's responsibility to replace or fix the devices within a maximum of 30 days and report serious incidents of vandalism to Toronto Police. The Parkside Dr. camera was installed after a speeding motorist killed an elderly couple in a horrific five-car crash in October 2021. Safe Parkside says since its installation, the Parkside Dr. camera has become Toronto's busiest enforcement tool, having issued a whopping 67,786 speeding tickets and generated more than $7.2 million in fines to date. Speed enforcement cameras in Vaughan repeatedly damaged Parkside Dr. speed camera cut down for fourth time in five months
Toronto Sun
23-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Parkside Dr. speed camera vandalized for fifth time in past 6 months
The Parkside Drive speed camera has been vandalized for the fifth time in the last 6 months Photo by Safe Parkside The Parkside Dr. speed camera, Toronto's busiest and most vandalized traffic enforcement tool, was cut down for a fifth time in the past six months. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Advocacy group Safe Parkside revealed the latest malicious act on Friday. 'The lack of meaningful safety measures remains a big concern on Parkside Drive, a street that borders the city's busiest park, High Park, on the west side and is lined with residential family homes on the east side,' Faraz Gholizadeh, Safe Parkside Co-Chair, said in statement. 'Despite Parkside Drive's long and deadly history of speeding, the City of Toronto continues to overlook safety on Parkside Drive year after year.' In response, a city spokesperson said it 'condemns any incident of theft or vandalism of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) devices. Tampering with, damaging or stealing one of these devices allows dangerous speeding to continue and undermines the safety of all road users.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The spokesperson added the city is 'working with the contractor on other measures to help reduce incidents of vandalism. In addition to being pole-mounted, the Parkside Drive camera is remotely monitored so the contractor is notified in real time if the device goes offline unexpectedly.' The city says all cameras have an audible alarm on the device and are coated with a substance that allows the vendor to easily remove graffiti/spray paint. The spokesperson said cameras will always be repaired or replaced to keep them in operation and while the city does not own any of the ASE devices as they are a vendor-provided service, it is the vendor's responsibility to replace or fix the devices within a maximum of 30 days and report serious incidents of vandalism to Toronto Police. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The Parkside Dr. camera was installed after a speeding motorist killed an elderly couple in a horrific five-car crash in October 2021. Safe Parkside says since its installation, the Parkside Dr. camera has become Toronto's busiest enforcement tool, having issued a whopping 67,786 speeding tickets and generated more than $7.2 million in fines to date. Read More Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists World Editorial Cartoons Canada
CBC
23-05-2025
- CBC
Toronto's Parkside Drive speed camera cut down for 5th time in 6 months
For the fifth time in six months, the Parkside Drive speed camera in Toronto's west end has been cut down. Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of the community group Safe Parkside, says the speed camera was taken down sometime Thursday night or early Friday. As of Friday morning, the camera was removed from the area, and what remains is a cut off pole. The speed camera was cut down twice in November. Then in December, vandals cut down the camera and dumped it into a nearby duck pond. The camera was then downed again in April. Residents have long criticized the street as dangerous, citing heavy traffic and speeding drivers. Safe Parkside was formed in 2020, but residents have been calling on the city to make the street safer for over a decade, Gholizadeh said. In October 2021, an older couple was killed when they were stopped at a red light on the street and a man driving at high speed collided with them. That prompted the city to launch an ongoing study of the street, reduce the speed limit from 50 km/h to 40, as well as add speed cameras, new traffic signals and signs telling motorists to reduce their speed. Since it was installed in April 2022, the camera has issued over 65,000 tickets and more than $7 million in fines, according to Safe Parkside.
Toronto Star
23-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Parkside Drive speed camera cut down for fifth time: ‘It's just Groundhog Day'
What goes up eventually comes down. And down. And down. The Parkside Drive speed camera — Toronto's busiest, handing out more than 65,000 tickets and racking up some $7 million for the city — was cut down for the fifth time in the last six months sometime overnight Thursday evening or Friday morning. The camera, which was installed after a fatal collision on Parkside in 2021, has been the frequent target of vandals in recent months. It has been slashed time and time again, sometimes within 24 hours of being reinstalled, and was once dragged 200 metres and thrown in High Park's Duck Pond. Its latest iteration, reinforced with a cubic metal pole and the camera emerging from the top, was reinstalled for the fourth time just last week. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'It's just Groundhog Day,' said Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of the community group Safe Parkside. 'It's very frustrating and extremely disappointing that the city is just not acting on this issue, even despite everything that's happened to get us here.' Gta Who keeps cutting down the Parkside Drive speed camera? Our man on the beat investigates Raju Mudhar The city installed the camera after Artur Kotula, 41, crashed on that stretch of road in 2021 while going 120 km/h. The crash killed two seniors, Valdemar and Fatima Avila, and earlier this year Kotula was sentenced to six and a half years for two counts of dangerous driving causing death, and a second concurrent sentence of four years for two charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. Since being installed three years ago, the camera has earned the city millions. It has clocked drivers going as fast as 154 km/h. 'Again?' said Gord Perks, councillor for Parkdale-High Park, when informed by phone that the camera had been cut. 'This is infuriating.' Perks said the city has taken 'quite a few short-term and long-term steps' to slow traffic on Parkside, including installing the speed camera, lowering the speed limit, installing two new traffic signals, adding pedestrian sidewalks and allowing parking on the east side of the street. The city has also drafted plans to redesign the street with bike lanes, changing it from a major thoroughfare to a neighbourhood street, Perks said. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Gholizadeh said speeding is 'still a massive issue.' Faraz Gholizadeh, head of the neighbourhood group Safe Parkside, is seen beside the Parkside Drive speed camera earlier this month. Nick Lachance/ Toronto Star 'When you have a two-kilometre street and you put a speed camera at the end of it, unfortunately it does very little for the rest of the street,' he said. 'A speed camera can be cut down with a power tool but actual infrastructure changes on the street level can't be vandalized the way the speed camera is.' Each time the camera is cut down, the city's contractor, Verra Mobility, is responsible for fixing or replacing it within 30 days, the city previously told the Star. Verra Mobility must pay to replace it, the city said. In a statement, Verra Mobility said it had reported the latest incident to the authorities and is working with them and city staff to find the perpetrators. 'This is an act of vandalism against the cameras that help protect citizens and improve safety on our roads,' Verra Mobility said. 'Once found, this person(s) will be held accountable.' The city did not immediately respond to the Star's request for comment on Friday. With files from Raju Mudhar
