City
Morning Brew: Elderly Driver Runs Red and Kills Pedestrian, Doctor Speeds, Reward Upped in Christopher Skinner Case, Yonge Street Media Launch, Another Acquittal in Creba Case, ROM Expansion Plans
Photo: "simcity" by tcp909, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
A tragic accident at the Martin Grove and Eglinton intersection that saw a young mother killed, a baby in a stroller escape unscathed, and an 83-year old woman potentially facing charges has reignited the debate about licensing and testing of eldery drivers.
When, if ever, is it justified for a driver to exceed the speed limit? A doctor on his way to perform an emergency treatment was stopped by police and ticketed for doing almost twice the speed limit on a city street in wintry conditions. Should he have been let off? What constitutes an emergency?
A new, larger cash reward is now being offered in the still unsolved death of Christopher Skinner, who was run down by an SUV and killed back in October. Video evidence suggests that a number of witnesses are out there, and the friends of the driver have so far not given up the suspect. The family continue to grieve over their loss and are hoping that a $100,000 reward will help them bring the culprit to justice and some closure to the tragedy.
Yonge Street, a new online publication that is driven by sponsorship (including funding from City of Toronto) and positive reporting on Toronto and the 905, launches today. The e-zine will aggregate news, and also include feature articles about businesses and people who display creativity, innovation, contribute to urban development, social well-being, and so forth.
There's been another acquittal in the Jane Creba case. Defendant G.C., who was present during the shooting but was not alleged to have been armed himself, saw manslaughter charges dropped as the Crown once again failed to effectively prove "common unlawful purpose." Having spent some three years under strict house arrest, G.C. seemed enthusiastic to have his life back. Hopefully, if anything, this ordeal has taught him a thing or two about how to choose friends.
And thanks to $2.25 million in infrastructure funding from the feds, the ROM will be expanding its exhibition space. Two new gallery spaces will be added and an existing (Jamaican bat cave) space refurbished. Renovations are expected to start right away, and the new galleries open by March of 2011.
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The problem is that damn stretch of road is only 40KM/H!!
Its a back sidestreet behind a frigging cemetary, backing yards onto some residental area. Not a school area, or commerical, etc.
It should be 50KM/H +.
If it was an emergency, he should have gotten a police escort.
Otherwise its fine and needs to be increased.
I think retesting (this could a simple reflex and response test rather than full blown driving test) is needed at some point, likely at an age where the earliest signs of reflex slowing occurs.
Should senior doctors be able to speed to emergencies?
the story is messed. all the po-pos say is: if you don't get there without crashing then you're no use at all. wake up: ambulances speed getting patients to hospitals. cops speed to get to the donut shop. yet, there's no proof that speed causes accidents. that police comment was such a hyprocritcal comment.
Anyone else see a bit of a feasibility gap here?
The system is already horribly backed up with the currently-required level of testing, especially after a lengthy strike. With the largest segment of the population about to hit the age ranges proposed, how on earth could this be accomplished? The additional costs would surely be prohibitive. And we all know where the extra $$$ would have to come from...
Obviously road safety is an important issue and can't be wholesale sacrificed to the bottom line. But I also don't see the point in getting enraged that the government "lets" this kind of thing happen when there's no way the average taxpayer would be willing to foot the bill required to make major changes to the system.
She should be charged with the harshest possible offense.
My dad is old (80+) and becoming a shittier driver every time I get in the car with him. He's a typical stubborn old ass who thinks he's an awesome driver. They should definitely have higher standards on old people driver refresher tests than they currently do.
How come there isn't a f'n ROAD TEST
My dad wold FAIL that.
Oh well, I guess we need a wave of old people killing people with their cars before anyone gives a sh*t.
Definitely not the same situation.
Murderers cruising entertainment district:
A typical crime of opportunistic bullies and cowards. 4 of them, eh? Cowards all. May they hang. Their parents must be proud what sheep they raised.
Near elderly drivers:
Seems this person was inattentive. Didn't notice a red light when approaching an intersection? Bloody hell. Tough call to determine an age to start yearly road tests for the near elderly. Not everyone has the same driving skills at any age and eyesight towards the near elderly age - macular degenenration etc.
A road test is a good place to start. Yeah, at what age though....
As for the cost of the additional public safety - they charge for every sneeze as it is. If we're to be so worried about speeders, we can dismiss the near blind and distracted near elderly drivers? Oh? At what cost. We're already paying for it, consider it covered.
Speeding Doc:
It truly IS up to the discretion of the officer. What time of day was it, for instance?
The police hear so many excuses in a day...truthfully, one's license does not include one's University degrees, nor identify whether one is a medical doctor.
The officer must of been having a bad day and was a tad belligerent, if indeed it took 10 minutes to write up a ticket, seeming as how he didn't buy the doctor's reason for speeding. Dick.
Imagine if the doc was doing 50kph over the limit. He would have been seriously delayed, thanks to GD Julian Fantino and his knee jerk pushing politicians for this cocked up piece of legislation. Racing? What percentage of the population does this? Hmmmm? Yeah, right.
This is a good reason to have video cameras with a visible clock timer in all police cars - just to keep them honest, shall we say....
<jonathon>
Should senior doctors be able to speed to emergencies?
Indeed, at which age should near elderly doctors stop operating on your kidneys, etc. Good point....
And it's not like the Hospital didn't have any other doctors on staff. Sounds to me like someone who maybe wanted to go fast, and uses 'it's ok, I'm a doctor' as an excuse.
An "every second counts" emergency is actually very rare. In fact, part of the purpose of paramedics is to stabalize someone in such a state before transporting them to the hospital.
Now the cops still seem to have more liberal attitudes about blowing through intersections during emergencies (and not)
and i learned on blog to that condos are evil
i own one
but it feel homes are more evil, cause sprawl eat up more energy per population
Elderly people vote, while young people whine. A mandatory reflex/vision/range of body motion test should be done every 2 years once a person hits 75, but the system right now is a joke. I once had to help an octegenarian to his car in the underground of the Manulife Center. You can bet I got my car out of their before he started his!
An ambulance is a lumbering beast, top heavy and hardly designed for navigating crowded streets at high speed. A doctor with decent driving skills in a Porsche could easily outmaneuver an ambulance. The article never states what kind of vehicle the doctor was driving.
Maybe we should have mandatory pedestrian testing, too! I have lost count with the number of times pedestrians cut the corner at an intersection, at night, wearing black while talking on their cell - it happened to me just last night at Carlton/Jarvis. Are these people nuts? I'd say half the pedestrians (if not more) step off the curb and never even look to see if driver's are slowing down or stopping. That's part of our 'entitled' culture. Whether in the right or not, a vehicle will always win and being dead won't help the pedestrian in court. A minimal amount of awareness of one's surroundings go along way, or even some basic civility, but that is asking too much.
The real reason behind many an accident.