Motorist ridiculed for driving on Toronto sidewalk but some disagree on who to blame

A confused driver's struggle with downtown Toronto infrastructure has the internet abuzz, just the latest in a string of bad drivers caught on camera to go viral in the city.

Content creator Johnny Strides, known for his on-foot tours of Toronto neighbourhoods, shared a clip on TikTok over the weekend showing a driver using the sidewalk as their own personal roadway along Bloor Street East, just east of Yonge Street.

In the video, a white Honda Civic can be seen slowly driving eastbound along the south sidewalk of Bloor Street West, before seemingly realizing their mistake and exiting the sidewalk in favour of the actual roadway.

@johnnystrides Sidewalk driver near Yonge & Bloor in Toronto #toronto #baddrivers #torontodrivers #torontolife #torontotiktok #downtowntoronto ♬ original sound - JohnnyStrides

The clip has been viewed more than 70,000 times and garnered over 3,300 likes on TikTok, with countless more views and reactions racked up through reshares on other social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter).

Anonymous X account 'Toronto Poles and Dangling Wires' places much of the blame for this snafu on the City, writing, "See what happens when you use asphalt to repair sidewalks. Car drivers think they can drive there."

"What the hell happened here? Did the[y] not spend a massive amount of money to make great sidewalks here? Now to be replaced by asphalt?"

Several commenters on multiple platforms called on Toronto police to take action against the driver, whose licence plate is clearly visible in the clip.

Too busy stopping in bike lanes or harassing people on bicycles...

— dearappauthors (@dearappauthors) June 3, 2024

Though comment sections were littered with angry comments directed at the driver, others were quick to defend the motorist, who didn't appear to be taking a shortcut or trying to evade traffic but instead seemed to have made an honest mistake and turned back onto the street at the first opportunity.

Still, some weren't accepting the "honest mistake" explanation.

Weird how all the pedestrians managed to figure out not to walk on the road though.

— Rudi Schuller (@RudiSchuller) June 3, 2024

It's a reminder to drivers that, even if it looks like a road and feels like a road, an absence of cars is your first clue that this probably isn't a road.