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Thursday February 25, 2016

February 24, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday February 25, 2016 The rising price of driving Gas prices in Ontario will rise about 4.3 cents a litre and residential natural gas bills will go up about $5 a month under the Liberal government's cap-and-trade plan. Premier Kathleen Wynne said she expects the program won't increase electricity costs for the industrial and commercial sectors. She revealed economic impacts Wednesday, a day before her government introduces its budget, which is expected to include more details about carbon pricing. "The cost of doing nothing is much, much higher than the cost of going forward and reducing greenhouse gas emissions," she said. (Source: CP) http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2016/02/24/wynne-says-cap-and-trade-plan-will-add-about-4-3-cents-a-litre-to-gas-prices-2/#.Vs4ItjYir8t Meanwhile, Hamilton is in the midst of a $10-million-plus installation of cameras on the Red Hill Valley Parkway and at hundreds of major city street intersections in order to allow better signal and traffic control in emergencies. But it turns out those cameras can track speeding cars, too. Not enough to send you a ticket Ñ the city deliberately chose an image resolution for the cameras that is supposed to be too low to allow eyeballing of your face, licence plate or curtainless bedroom window. But the cameras are capable of tracking vehicle speed and speeding trends over time, said councillor and police board chair Lloyd Ferguson Ñ and that could help police "focus enforcement where and when it's needed." City council formally asked the province to allow photo radar on the Red Hill and Linc late last year after a consultant suggested a troubling spike in parkway collisions was due in part to chronic speeding. Toronto has made a similar request to use the contentious technology to save on policing costs. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6329522-photo-radar-can-traffic-cams-help-curb-speeding-/

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 25, 2016

The rising price of driving

Gas prices in Ontario will rise about 4.3 cents a litre and residential natural gas bills will go up about $5 a month under the Liberal government’s cap-and-trade plan.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said she expects the program won’t increase electricity costs for the industrial and commercial sectors. She revealed economic impacts Wednesday, a day before her government introduces its budget, which is expected to include more details about carbon pricing.

“The cost of doing nothing is much, much higher than the cost of going forward and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. (Source: CP)

Meanwhile, Hamilton is in the midst of a $10-million-plus installation of cameras on the Red Hill Valley Parkway and at hundreds of major city street intersections in order to allow better signal and traffic control in emergencies.

But it turns out those cameras can track speeding cars, too.

Not enough to send you a ticket — the city deliberately chose an image resolution for the cameras that is supposed to be too low to allow eyeballing of your face, licence plate or curtainless bedroom window.

But the cameras are capable of tracking vehicle speed and speeding trends over time, said councillor and police board chair Lloyd Ferguson — and that could help police “focus enforcement where and when it’s needed.”

City council formally asked the province to allow photo radar on the Red Hill and Linc late last year after a consultant suggested a troubling spike in parkway collisions was due in part to chronic speeding. Toronto has made a similar request to use the contentious technology to save on policing costs. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Meanwhile, Hamilton Councillors voted to hike the cost of a monthly city parking lot pass by $10 this year, but put off any debate on meter rates until next year.

Temporary exemptions are also in the works for municipal lots in Dundas and on Concession Street, with the possibility of adding Ottawa Street and Kenilworth Avenue at a budget meeting Friday.

In theory, the rate bump should provide the city with an extra $238,000 in revenue — although senior director of bylaw and parking Marty Hazell noted the city will pay about $61,000 of that total for its own employees to park.

Downtown Coun. Jason Farr applauded the lot rate hike as a good first step, but added he’s still interested in a “robust discussion” on the city’s $1 meter rates.

“It’s the cheapest deal in Ontario,” he said. “I think we need to address that if we’re truly trying to encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto the bus.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: cap and trade, car, cash, cow, drivers, driving, Hamilton, middle class, Ontario, speeding

Tuesday January 5, 2016

January 4, 2016 by Graeme MacKay
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday January 5, 2016 New pedestrian crossover, student crossing rules require drivers to wait New provincial legislation is now in place that will impact you on the road Ñ and on foot. It's now mandatory for drivers and cyclists to stop for the entire time it takes a pedestrian to navigate a crossover or a school crossing with a guard. Drivers could be fined up to $500 for disobeying the new rules, and they could also lose three demerit points. Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Carolle Dionne said enforcement will be stepped up to make sure the laws are being followed. "We are committed to using the new laws as an enhanced deterrent in reducing pedestrian-related injuries and fatalities," she told CBC News. "We investigate so many of these each year and it's important that we keep our pedestrians safer." Dionne said road safety is a shared responsibility Ñ and pedestrians, drivers and cyclists need to be courteous to each other, and share the road. Pedestrians have a role in making sure the new laws are enforced properly. Dionne said they need to make sure "that, when they do decide to start crossing, they don't start crossing when the lights are flashing, [and] don't walk or cross at a red light. They have a big role to play in their personal safety as well." The new law applies to crossovers and school crossings where there is a guard. Crossovers are not the same as a crosswalks. They are marked by specific signs, overhead lights, and push buttons. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/pedestrian-crossover-rules-opp-1.3388949 Ontario, safety, road, pedestrian, cars, drivers, transportation, streets, signs, bull, fighting, bullfighting

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 5, 2016

New pedestrian crossover, student crossing rules require drivers to wait

New provincial legislation is now in place that will impact you on the road — and on foot.

It’s now mandatory for drivers and cyclists to stop for the entire time it takes a pedestrian to navigate a crossover or a school crossing with a guard.

Thursday, February 27, 2014Drivers could be fined up to $500 for disobeying the new rules, and they could also lose three demerit points.

Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Carolle Dionne said enforcement will be stepped up to make sure the laws are being followed.

“We are committed to using the new laws as an enhanced deterrent in reducing pedestrian-related injuries and fatalities,” she told CBC News.

“We investigate so many of these each year and it’s important that we keep our pedestrians safer.”

Dionne said road safety is a shared responsibility — and pedestrians, drivers and cyclists need to be courteous to each other, and share the road.

Pedestrians have a role in making sure the new laws are enforced properly. Dionne said they need to make sure “that, when they do decide to start crossing, they don’t start crossing when the lights are flashing, [and] don’t walk or cross at a red light. They have a big role to play in their personal safety as well.”

The new law applies to crossovers and school crossings where there is a guard.

Crossovers are not the same as a crosswalks. They are marked by specific signs, overhead lights, and push buttons. (Source: CBC News)

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: bull, bullfighting, cars, drivers, fighting, Ontario, pedestrian, road, safety, signs, streets, transportation

Thursday March 26, 2014

March 25, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Thursday March 26, 2014Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 26, 2014

Hamilton’s heavy truck fleet gets a failing safety grade

A troubling spike in collisions by municipal garbage trucks and plows has downgraded the city’s provincial safety rating — and even threatens its legal ability to put those vehicles on the road.

Hamilton’s roughly 400 “commercial” vehicles — those weighing more than 4,500 kilograms, but excluding transit and emergency services — were involved in 120 collisions and 29 convictions over the past two years, according to Ministry of Transportation data.

That’s left the city with a “conditional” provincial safety rating and a violation rate of 87.4 per cent — one of the highest rates among Ontario municipalities. The problems have spurred a warning letter, safety rating downgrade and Feb. 11 meeting with the ministry.

The province considers 35 per cent or less to be “satisfactory,” while violation rates approaching 100 per cent can spur sanctions as severe as forcing an operator to park its fleet.

“It’s a high violation rate,” acknowledged Geoff Lupton, director of energy, fleet and traffic, who said the majority of collisions come from garbage trucks and plows. “I wouldn’t say we’re unsafe; I’d say we’ve had too many incidents and we’re working to address that.”

Public works chair Coun. Sam Merulla called the city’s record “unacceptable,” but added he’s confident in the city’s new plan to tackle the troubling trend.

The plan started last fall when the city formed a committee to tackle the issue and now includes a revamp of Hamilton’s driver safety manual. Lupton said a driving trainer has been working with waste collectors since January and three yet-to-be hired trainers will soon be “embedded” in the roads department. Meetings with drivers are also being held at various public works yards.

Lupton also noted many city vehicle collisions are weather-related — for example, plows clipping cars in storms, or garbage trucks reversing in snow-choked side streets. “A lot of our (staff) are out there in the absolute worst conditions,” he said. “We’ll always have accidents, but we definitely need to make sure there are as few as possible.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: city, drivers, Hamilton, Ministry, public works, record, safety, transportation, trucks

Friday February 24, 2012

February 24, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Friday February 24, 2012

Tougher rules expected for older drivers

Ontario’s transportation minister expects drivers with dementia will face tough new rules within the year.

The province’s aging population — with an increase is cognitively impaired drivers — will make road safety a “top priority,” said transportation minister Bob Chiarelli.

“I think we need to accelerate our attention to it,” Chiarelli said in an interview.

“I believe we are doing that and I would be surprised if in the next six months to a year we didn’t initiate some enhancements to it.”

In the wake of a Star series on drivers with cognitive impairment, Chiarelli predicted there will be a “tightening across the board” of the system that allows many seniors with dementia to drive unchecked.

The ministry is considering making the following changes: better training for family doctors on reporting cognitively impaired patients who drive; more rigorous on-road testing of senior drivers; and the introduction of graduated licensing for some seniors who, like teenage drivers, would not be allowed to drive at night or on 400-series highways.

Ontario is one of the last jurisdictions in North America that has not embraced “degraduated licences” for seniors. This would put limits on seniors with diminished eyesight in the dark or nerves that can’t handle highway speeds.

In the interview, Chiarelli said he has heard both good and bad things about that approach but is open to exploring it here. (Source: Toronto Star) 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: drivers, evolution, geriatric, graduated, licence, Ontario, permit, senior, teens, transportation

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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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