increase-in-motorcycle-fatalities-leads-to-bike-safety-talks | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

increase-in-motorcycle-fatalities-leads-to-bike-safety-talks

The parking lot is private property.
It is still subject to dangerous driving charges. If there are people standing around that could get injured dangerous is appropriate.

Don't believe me?

Have a seven year old killed by an errant tuner and the public outcry would be "Where were the police?"
 
I think what they're trying to say is that a lot more people on the road (motorcycle riders included) are acting more and more reckless. So even if your level of safe riding hasn't changed in the past 30 years, there's more outside risk coming your way increasing your chances of getting affected by an idiot on the road.

I see it in my commutes, more erratic behaviours, i've only got 10ish years under my belt but the first 5 years i was commuting on the motorbike 2-3 times per week into downtown toronto. You notice patterns after a while.
Even while driving the car, i can notice more dangerous behaviour among the general population.

As someone else mentioned, entitlement is a big factor in this (can i use this word?) pandemic. I feel like it's been amplified post-covid, people are hella impatient. Lane blocking at traffic lights has become commonplace downtown to the point that we need police officers directing traffic (i mean wtf happened during covid that we can't manage that ourselves anymore?!). There's just a lot of wrong happening on the road and people are more and more unpredictable making it more hazardous for everybody involved.
Covid is still around and not everyone did well during the lockdowns. Now their mortgages are coming due, and they went deeper in debt during C-19. They are ****** off and when you are angry it shows in all aspects of your life.

Many are commuting from the house they hate to the job they hate and the scenery along the way isn't great.
 
I don't know... I drove a cab in the '80s and '90s and haven't noticed it getting worse... the average driver was clueless in the '80s and the average driver is clueless in the 2020s... cars are better/safer now.
We, us drivers, aren't very good at it. REAL driving lessons would help. I paid for my daughter to take driving lessons when she was 17. They taught her how to pass the test... I had to UN teach her and teach her how to ACTUALLY drive. She really hated learning emergency stops, but had a great time flinging the truck around sideways on the antifreeze soaked parking lot (scared ME senseless, but she was having fun AND she learned how to control a slide... something NOT taught at driving school but something that comes in real handy in Ontario winters). At "driving" school, they DISCUSSED emergency stops, didn't DO any (because it's not on the test. To pass the test you have to stop quickly, NOT as fast as possible).
Ask the "average" driver if they know what THRESHOLD braking is
in Germany, you know... where every driving comparison ends, it takes a minimum of a year, with much class room instruction and many hours behind the wheel, and about $5000 to get a license (and part of that is knowing how to change a tire and how to install a fan belt at the side of the road)
Every person that is eliminated by advanced testing is one person that won't buy a house in the boonies where public transit is the pits. What does that do to developer profits?
 
It is still subject to dangerous driving charges. If there are people standing around that could get injured dangerous is appropriate.

Don't believe me?

Have a seven year old killed by an errant tuner and the public outcry would be "Where were the police?"

I was replying to a post suggesting blocking the exits and doing document checks and vehicle inspections... on private property.
 
I was replying to a post suggesting blocking the exits and doing document checks and vehicle inspections... on private property
Someone posted about the OPP doing bike checks at sanctioned track days. It's similar in a broad sense. Performance event followed by the vehicles going to the street. How did that work out?

Do the police need cause?

If I owned the premises I wouldn't want the liability issues of allowing the events. Do they sell a lot of coffee?
 
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AFAIK there's never been official OPP/MTO vehicle inspections at any events on private property, buuuuut they could, theoretically, clandestinely keep an eye on things and take note of which vehicles need to be pulled over down the road after the event. The most I've encountered personally was being pulled into the MTO yard on regional road 56 north of Cayuga - had two bikes on an open trailer behind my car, on the way to a track day at TMP, and they were pulling all trailers in to run them across the scale. (I was within bounds, and sent on my way.)

If the intent is to make sure attendees of (let's say) Dundas and 403 are on licensed and insured vehicles, I think the most they could do is set up a checkpoint on Dundas St nearby. Word would get out, and the guilty parties would surely stay put until after the cops go home. Or call a buddy and ask for a tow, or have a "breakdown" and call CAA.

related note, on the main road out of my neighborhood a couple days ago, a Peel Regional cop turned onto the road from a side street behind me. I don't care, my license plate is on display in the place where it's supposed to be, registration and insurance are up to date, all lights work, mirrors are there, etc., and I knew the cop was there so obviously I followed speed limits. While stopped at a red light with the cop behind me, another bike passed through the junction in the other direction. No visible plate. Cop didn't do anything.
 
Do the police need cause?
As long as they are "inspecting" everyone, it's fine. To single out riders/drivers they need probable cause.
I've seen them at Cayuga, with OPP, MOT and Environment officers.
I've seen local police walking around track days/race days writing down VINs, no cause needed.

We were at Cayuga, and I see my buddy Mopar Steve getting served and protected at the gate.. I LOLed... he was still there 20 minutes later, so I walked over to see what was going on.
Steve has a '67 Polara, with a Hemi (cool car), and the OPP and MOT want a clean air, cuz the car has plates... UHMMMM ...guys... it is a 1967, there is NO clean air standard, but more importantly: IT'S ON A TRAILER. The cops huddle up... now they want date stamps on the hold down straps.
Steve was doing nothing wrong
By noon they had about 35 cars in impound.
At a bike gathering at 403/Dundas Timmies, a Peel cop told a guy that if he as much as started his duly insured, plated and all round legal RD-LC, on private property, he would be arrested and the bike impounded, I can't remember what BS charge he was threatening, but he was seriously under the impression 2 strokes were illegal to operate... on private property.
Back in the good ol days of street racing, I was a regular getting pulled over and getting "Falstaff'ed", were I had to go to the MOT at Keele/401 for an inspection. It was fun to watch the cop go NUTs about how unsafe my car was. I was such a regular at Falstaff I knew most of the inspectors by name, I'd bring coffee. Never failed an inspection. After the third or forth inspection, one of the inspectors would just come out to the parking lot. give my car a glance and sign off. TWICE I got pulled over, the VERY excited cop wanted to give me a Falstaff, but I had the paperwork from an inspection earlier that day. That kinda takes the wind outa their sails. (A MOT inspection is nothing like a "safety")
I was told they gave York Regional cops a seminar about "ricers"... and one of the things they made exception to was MAP sensor placement, if you moved your MAP sensor on your Civic, they take your plates. HTF does a cop that knows nothing about cars get to make such a pronouncement

In practice... the police don't know the laws their supposed to be enforcing
 
As long as they are "inspecting" everyone, it's fine. To single out riders/drivers they need probable cause.
I've seen them at Cayuga, with OPP, MOT and Environment officers.
I've seen local police walking around track days/race days writing down VINs, no cause needed.

We were at Cayuga, and I see my buddy Mopar Steve getting served and protected at the gate.. I LOLed... he was still there 20 minutes later, so I walked over to see what was going on.
Steve has a '67 Polara, with a Hemi (cool car), and the OPP and MOT want a clean air, cuz the car has plates... UHMMMM ...guys... it is a 1967, there is NO clean air standard, but more importantly: IT'S ON A TRAILER. The cops huddle up... now they want date stamps on the hold down straps.
Steve was doing nothing wrong
By noon they had about 35 cars in impound.
At a bike gathering at 403/Dundas Timmies, a Peel cop told a guy that if he as much as started his duly insured, plated and all round legal RD-LC, on private property, he would be arrested and the bike impounded, I can't remember what BS charge he was threatening, but he was seriously under the impression 2 strokes were illegal to operate... on private property.
Back in the good ol days of street racing, I was a regular getting pulled over and getting "Falstaff'ed", were I had to go to the MOT at Keele/401 for an inspection. It was fun to watch the cop go NUTs about how unsafe my car was. I was such a regular at Falstaff I knew most of the inspectors by name, I'd bring coffee. Never failed an inspection. After the third or forth inspection, one of the inspectors would just come out to the parking lot. give my car a glance and sign off. TWICE I got pulled over, the VERY excited cop wanted to give me a Falstaff, but I had the paperwork from an inspection earlier that day. That kinda takes the wind outa their sails. (A MOT inspection is nothing like a "safety")
I was told they gave York Regional cops a seminar about "ricers"... and one of the things they made exception to was MAP sensor placement, if you moved your MAP sensor on your Civic, they take your plates. HTF does a cop that knows nothing about cars get to make such a pronouncement

In practice... the police don't know the laws their supposed to be enforcing
Not that I condone the tuner / ricer / loud pipes crap but look at your wasted time. They won.

True, they may even waste their time in court but they get paid for it.
 
I've seen OPP cruiser's come through the pits numerous times at Grand Bend during a SOAR weekend over the years, they are just admiring the bikes and doing their patrol, I guess it's a nice break from dealing with the beach crowd.
 
Someone posted about the OPP doing bike checks at sanctioned track days. It's similar in a broad sense. Performance event followed by the vehicles going to the street. How did that work out?

Do the police need cause?

If I owned the premises I would want the liability issues of allowing the events. Do they sell a lot of coffee?

Police do not need probable cause to pull someone over and do a document check... on the roads.
The issue with kettling the riders in the parking lot.. is that they are already on private property. The HTA does not apply to private property.. so licence, registration, insurance. modified parts, etc... none of that matters in the parking lot. If a cop witnessed the rider on the road and watched them go into the lot and park.. then yes, they could go after that rider for whatever offence they witnessed. Other than that, they'd have to wait until the riders left the lot, entered to public road... and then the problem is.. they'll probably run. Those folks riding illegally will pop over the curbs and ride across the grass and sidewalk to get out of there.
Unless they're willing to knock the rider off the bike.. it's near impossible to catch a determined runner.
They would have pulled those track day goers over as they left the track... they might be able to set up on the access road/driveway depending on the property line.
 
I don't know... I drove a cab in the '80s and '90s and haven't noticed it getting worse... the average driver was clueless in the '80s and the average driver is clueless in the 2020s... cars are better/safer now.
We, us drivers, aren't very good at it. REAL driving lessons would help. I paid for my daughter to take driving lessons when she was 17. They taught her how to pass the test... I had to UN teach her and teach her how to ACTUALLY drive. She really hated learning emergency stops, but had a great time flinging the truck around sideways on the antifreeze soaked parking lot (scared ME senseless, but she was having fun AND she learned how to control a slide... something NOT taught at driving school but something that comes in real handy in Ontario winters). At "driving" school, they DISCUSSED emergency stops, didn't DO any (because it's not on the test. To pass the test you have to stop quickly, NOT as fast as possible).
Ask the "average" driver if they know what THRESHOLD braking is
in Germany, you know... where every driving comparison ends, it takes a minimum of a year, with much class room instruction and many hours behind the wheel, and about $5000 to get a license (and part of that is knowing how to change a tire and how to install a fan belt at the side of the road)
While I do agree there isn’t enough training, I’m going to disagree Germans produce better drivers. They are better at following rules, which I believe is part cultural, part training, and part heavy rules enforcement.

Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time driving in Germany, and a lot of my German counterparts travel here and drive. Im comfortable as a passenger with all my Canadian associates driving, whether it be here or in Germany. Not so with my German associates - so I always drive, whether here of there.

Haven’t met many experienced German drivers who could pilot an F150 or a passenger van from the airport to downtown - in Toronto or Frankfurt.

We could learn from the way Germans enforce driving laws, that would improve safety and road rage.
 
An increase in accidents? What relevance does this have to me...........? Should I be concerned?

I'm mid sixties in age, have 30+ years riding, 10+bikes, about 300,000 km experience, don't drink and ride, don't commute on 400 series highways, I'm not lane splitting at 200 km/h at 2 AM on a weekend, not racing my buddies from one Timmies to another.very Friday and Saturday night at 3 AM...........

From my perspective, the risk of riding has not changed. If you're riding like an idiot, then suffer the consequences,
I have many years experience riding and driving as well, and the risk definitely has changed. More traffic/congestion, different types of road users (teens on electric scooters!), distraction, poor driving/riding skills, and an overall entitlement on the part of all types of road users.
 
I have many years experience riding and driving as well, and the risk definitely has changed. More traffic/congestion, different types of road users (teens on electric scooters!), distraction, poor driving/riding skills, and an overall entitlement on the part of all types of road users.
If you're entitled the other things you mention are irrelevant. Same goes for sub teens on electric scoots.
 
If you're entitled the other things you mention are irrelevant. Same goes for sub teens on electric scoots.
Absolutely. But a for an “unentitled” motorcyclist, the risk increases with the other things I mention, no?
 
An increase in accidents? What relevance does this have to me...........? Should I be concerned?

I'm mid sixties in age, have 30+ years riding, 10+bikes, about 300,000 km experience, don't drink and ride, don't commute on 400 series highways, I'm not lane splitting at 200 km/h at 2 AM on a weekend, not racing my buddies from one Timmies to another.very Friday and Saturday night at 3 AM...........

From my perspective, the risk of riding has not changed. If you're riding like an idiot, then suffer the consequences,
Don’t forget “cage-raging…”
 
Would tiered licencing help - I don't know. The squids don't bother with things like licences, plates and insurance.
You can't convince someone that their skills aren't up to the task if they aren't prepared to listen.
In theory that sounds like a good idea. Look at Germany. One of the hardest places in the world to get a drivers license; very high obligations on drivers (when I was visiting relatives, at the time every car by law had to carry a first aid kit and it was a serious offence not to stop at an accident scene); strict enforcement; and stiff penalties. But, that’s why they get to buy fast cars and drive them to their intended potentia on public roads.

Here people are getting licensed who seem like they struggle with figuring out how to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide.
 
Can’t remember the last time I’ve actually seen the OPP out there. Seriously. Other than hiding behind that one overpass by Cornwall…
 

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