Yeah, true enough. In reality the lights on the tractor are almost always obscured by what they're towing.
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This season has been terrible for motorcyclists
- Thread starter hymnz
- Start date
I see people passing without enough room at least weekly and sometimes daily now it used to be rare. Usually so close it forces the oncoming traffic to take action.
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Exactly. Or the wagon just has hazards flashing and you can't tell he's turning.
It used to take 8-12 minutes to cross Toronto on the Gardiner. They still haven't fixed the Don Mills south off ramp to make up for the removed Gardiner section, or figured a way to do proper maintenance on the Lakeshore east of Jarvis. When I first moved to Ottawa I noticed that it was worse for people running red lights, immediately moving to the leftmost lane, having trouble staying in one lane, and bad parking. Toronto has now caught up.
If this is the same person, I think I heard him while I was north bound 404 around the same time. I looked around but he was no where to be seen...just heard that beautiful exhaust note and I thought to myself this guy is def over 200.
Having moved to Northern Ontario (Actually Northern Ontario....not Barrie) I can't fathom riding on the 401. Even when I come to visit and have to drive on the 401 from the airport, it's just such a **** hole. Drivers are cut throat, and unless you're constantly trying to overtake the guy in front of you and driving like you're on Nurburgring track you're destined to get hit by someone. To the people driving that everyday it's gotta shave 20 years off your life.
If you are able to stay off the 400 series highways in the GTA that cuts out significant exposure to the crazies on the road.
Key problem, IMO, is lack of enforcement for speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, unsignaled lane changes, extreme tailgating, aggressive driving in general etc......
In the GTA traffic volume exceeds capacity by far and viable mass transit alternatives are decades behind other major cities. We need dynamic, integrated and active speed and traffic control to smooth out traffic flow and reduce accidents. IMO, as I've said before, high resolution cameras and software could nip a lot of the extreme poor driving in 3 - 6 months.
Got a tailgater 4 feet off of your bumper at 100 kph? Camera and software program identifies this and tracks the offender, who is handed off from one camera to another as he travels along the 401. At some point, maybe his exit, the camera system captures his license plate. Send the registered owner of the vehicle a ticket for a significant sum, say $200, for a first offence. Second offense, make it $500, and so on.
If you paid $1,000 in fines over a 2 - 3 months period, and knew you'd have a good chance of being caught in the future, would you change your driving behavior? You'd have to be an idiot not to.
The other motivator, maybe after 3 tickets the insurer of the vehicle gets notified, then rates get jacked up or insurance is cancelled.
Set the system parameters to focus on the extremes, and get these drivers to change their behavior or get them off the road. It can be done.
Key problem, IMO, is lack of enforcement for speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, unsignaled lane changes, extreme tailgating, aggressive driving in general etc......
In the GTA traffic volume exceeds capacity by far and viable mass transit alternatives are decades behind other major cities. We need dynamic, integrated and active speed and traffic control to smooth out traffic flow and reduce accidents. IMO, as I've said before, high resolution cameras and software could nip a lot of the extreme poor driving in 3 - 6 months.
Got a tailgater 4 feet off of your bumper at 100 kph? Camera and software program identifies this and tracks the offender, who is handed off from one camera to another as he travels along the 401. At some point, maybe his exit, the camera system captures his license plate. Send the registered owner of the vehicle a ticket for a significant sum, say $200, for a first offence. Second offense, make it $500, and so on.
If you paid $1,000 in fines over a 2 - 3 months period, and knew you'd have a good chance of being caught in the future, would you change your driving behavior? You'd have to be an idiot not to.
The other motivator, maybe after 3 tickets the insurer of the vehicle gets notified, then rates get jacked up or insurance is cancelled.
Set the system parameters to focus on the extremes, and get these drivers to change their behavior or get them off the road. It can be done.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
The North has a lot more space and a lot fewer people sharing roads. Roads (dirt, sand, washboard, car size potholes, and wildlife) and weather conditions are more extreme conditions so locals need to learn how to drive a car (or, more likely, a truck).
This thread would be much more interesting if everyone who said "I don't see a difference" or "I do see a difference" also mentioned where they live and where they ride so we could have some context of their posts.
I live, ride, and get paid to drive in Toronto and throughout the GTA, but I'm based in Toronto, like, Real Chrawno, not the burbs.
Yes, here in the thick of it, it's gotten worse.
It pretty much has been in a nose dive since they closed down that section of the Gardiner to the east end a couple years ago. When that first happened my price for my customers in the east end went up 30% on average, as it added a lot more time to get to them. I charge based on time. Now it's even more than that.
People are having to either go through downtown to get to the east, or through the city, where more and more lanes are being taken away and converted to bike lanes.
I think the infrastructure has changed substantially, and that's a big part of it that we're seeing in the city.
I think another big part of it is that we added 470,000 new immigrants to Canada in 2023, the bulk of whom end up in the GTA. And guess what? If we want them to be contributing to our economy, we need them in cars, on the roads, going to work to produce, and then back on the roads going to spend that money they made.
That's hundreds of thousands of people on the road who are brand new to our roads/laws/etiquette, and a lot more instances of "lost tourist" drivers going slowly just to suddenly last minute change lanes... What's that saying? A bad driver never misses their exit.
Question for the people who said they haven't seen any changes: Do any of y'all live in the city proper, and do you guys ride here in proper 'Chrawno. Because if you told me the burbs aren't changing, ok fair enough, but down here in the thick of it, the differences are pretty black and white to me.
I live, ride, and get paid to drive in Toronto and throughout the GTA, but I'm based in Toronto, like, Real Chrawno, not the burbs.
Yes, here in the thick of it, it's gotten worse.
It pretty much has been in a nose dive since they closed down that section of the Gardiner to the east end a couple years ago. When that first happened my price for my customers in the east end went up 30% on average, as it added a lot more time to get to them. I charge based on time. Now it's even more than that.
People are having to either go through downtown to get to the east, or through the city, where more and more lanes are being taken away and converted to bike lanes.
I think the infrastructure has changed substantially, and that's a big part of it that we're seeing in the city.
I think another big part of it is that we added 470,000 new immigrants to Canada in 2023, the bulk of whom end up in the GTA. And guess what? If we want them to be contributing to our economy, we need them in cars, on the roads, going to work to produce, and then back on the roads going to spend that money they made.
That's hundreds of thousands of people on the road who are brand new to our roads/laws/etiquette, and a lot more instances of "lost tourist" drivers going slowly just to suddenly last minute change lanes... What's that saying? A bad driver never misses their exit.
Question for the people who said they haven't seen any changes: Do any of y'all live in the city proper, and do you guys ride here in proper 'Chrawno. Because if you told me the burbs aren't changing, ok fair enough, but down here in the thick of it, the differences are pretty black and white to me.
So i used to commute 5 days a week to downtown toronto. I never touch the go train from april to november, so its a mix of cycling and motorcycling. Luckily i can add a couple days of work from home now so im wasting less time.
I have personally noticed more erratic behaviour on my route(s). And traffic has gotten worse.. and that gardiner repair/closure is "the worst". But as i say this, i realize that i've grown accustomed to this level of crappy driving as we have to adapt as vulnerable road usersSo it doesnt bother me as much, but i've definitely noticed MORE lane splitters while commuting LESS to work lol.
Driver behaviour is more aggressive or maybe there are just more drivers on the road which increases the number of aggressive drivers proportionally?
Agreed on all fronts.
I'm filtering at red lights way more than I used to. Most of the time it's to just to put some distance between me and one of those bad drivers you described.
It's weird, before I left for Italy, everybody warned me about Italian drivers, especially in Rome and Naples.... Being born and raised in Toronto and commuting through the city for work every day for over a decade, man, I had so much fun in those two cities! I'll take Italian drivers over what Toronto has become any day.
@hymnz I think you mentioned being new to Canada. Where are you from and what is road culture like there vs here?
justride
Well-known member
Garry W Morden Centre Mississauga
This would be a great facility for motorcyclists to learn motorcycle safety and emergency maneuvers by the Region of Peel.
Motorcycle police train at the facilities and all other EMT
But I don't see anything that is provided for the public by the Region it self but you can rent some class rooms and the huge training lot in the back.
click to see the training lot
Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com
hymnz
Well-known member
hymnz
Well-known member
Mississauga getting worse as well. Last year, I encountered 2 accidents on the way to work between June and December. This year the count is already 14 and it's just 3 months in,
I'm from India
.. Now before you laugh at me, hear me out-- no one tailgates (or even has a chance to tailgate) another vehicle at 80kmph in a pickup truck back there. It's a different ball game in Canada..Those are rookie numbers! My current record is 7 accidents in one trip that I passed.Mississauga getting worse as well. Last year, I encountered 2 accidents on the way to work between June and December. This year the count is already 14 and it's just 3 months in,
I'm from India
6 on the 401->403 and the last one beside me at Mavis and Burnhamthorpe. That one was hilarious.
PacoT
Well-known member
I have a similar point of view/experience as you. I come from Mexico (specifically México City, so most likely the the worst drivers in MX). I feel more in danger driving my motorcycle here than down there.I'm from India
First week back to school always is, as are the days after time changes. Statistically more likely to have an accident too.
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