Re: ERO # 019-9266 Policies…

Re: ERO # 019-9266

Policies to keep Toronto moving are not limited to bike lanes. The following should be reviewed and/or eliminated:
1. CafeTO which originates as a COVID measure should be terminated now that COVID is over. The City of Toronto and restaurant owners should not be profiting from tax payers who has already paid their taxes.
2. Events, strikes and protests that cause closures of highways and primary streets should be limited. It is noteworthy that most events/strikes/protests are held during months when weather is good. I question the dedication of protestors/demonstrators to their cause and suggest moving these events to January and February using the bike lanes when they are not being used by bikers. Or limit them to a special dedicated freedom of speech location or locations that are either relevant to their cause (not marching all over the streets of Toronto.

As for safety concerns:
1. Bikers especially those with motors should carry insurance and register their vehicles and be treated the same way as other vehicles and drivers on the road. My husband in his 70s was hit unconscious by a biker in downtown Toronto and was brought to Mount Sinai to be stitched up. The biker did not remain on the scene. Some good Samaritan called the ambulance and picked up all the pieces of his watch. If it had been a car, the driver will be arrested as he fled the scene and his gold watch would have been covered by insurance.
2. Clear legislations and enforcement of bicycles, especially the ones with motors, to obey the Highway Traffic Act similar to cars. Including travelling in the legal direction, obeying traffic lights and pedestrian right of way.
3. Bikers should take road and/or written test just like drivers and be licensed so they can be ticketed for disobeying the Highway Traffic Act. They should also pay annual license fees for renewal if they are using the road like motor vehicles.