More than 7K traffic and parking tickets handed to Toronto drivers ahead of long weekend

A person is seen driving a vehicle in this file photo. (Ingo Joseph / Pexels)

More than 7,000 traffic and parking tickets were issued to Toronto drivers in the span of a week ahead of the Canada Day long weekend.

The tickets were issued between June 23 and June 30 as part of the Toronto Police Service’s “Keep Toronto Moving” campaign.

Of the 4,135 Highway Traffic Act tickets handed out to drivers, the majority were for speeding. Toronto police say that 1,701 speeding tickets were issued, including 28 stunt driving charges.

In addition, there were 757 tickets for aggressive driving, 217 tickets for distracted driving, and 257 tickets handed out in relation to other offences such as traffic and pedestrian control, slow driving and blocking an intersection.

Police also handed out 3,236 rush hour parking tickets; however no vehicles were towed.

Rush hour parking—typically involving vehicles left in curbside lanes from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the morning and between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the evening—was not being enforced during the pandemic. The city warned drivers that they would start ticketing drivers again at the end of June 27 and resume towing on July 4.

“Our hope is that we continue to change driver behaviour through education, engagement, and enforcement. By taking traffic safety seriously, it keeps our communities safer. Our message to road users is to keep intersections clear and help keep Toronto moving,” police said in a news release issued Tuesday.

“Thank you to everyone who helped share our traffic safety messaging related to congestion, focusing on intersections, within our city.”