An infamous speed camera in Toronto known for catching thousands of drivers has been vandalized for a second time this month.
On Instagram, neighbourhood group Safe Parkside says the camera, located near Parkside Drive and Algonquin Avenue, was cut down from its base less than 24 hours after being reinstalled by city staff on Saturday morning.
The parking camera was installed following the death of two seniors who died in a multiple vehicle crash at the intersection of Parkside Drive and Spring Road back on Oct. 12 of 2021. For the past few years, the city has also introduced a reduction in speeding limits in the area, as well as additional speeding cameras.
Since it has been installed, the city says it has issued more than 63,000 speeding tickets totalling an estimated value of $6.8 million in fines.
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The City of Toronto says the city condemns all acts of theft and vandalism and is working to replace the equipment as quickly as possible.
“…Tampering with, damaging or stealing an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) device negatively impacts road safety and allows dangerous speeding to continue near vulnerable road users. 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 devices,” a city spokesperson said to Now Toronto on Monday.
The city adds that the speeding camera along Parkside Drive is one of the busiest in the city.
In the last decade, the city says there have been seven deaths and/or serious injury collisions on Parkside Drive. In addition, the area has experienced 1480 collisions resulting in ‘property damage only’ which includes damage to vehicles up to and including write-offs, as well as damage to residential property and public assets (e.g. utility poles).
Currently, it remains unclear when the speeding camera will be replaced.
Last week, Premier Doug Ford’s government passed a controversial legislation that will remove bike lanes on major Toronto streets in order to ease traffic congestion and accelerate the process of building new highways.
