Toronto: Private cops for bike lane enforcement?

Darren in Toronto has an interesting idea: Toronto police don’t enforce no parking laws in city bike lanes. Since police can be hiredto police private events, why not hire one just to enforce bike lane no parking zones?

Toronto cyclists got bike lanes installed on Simcoe Streets, but now those lanes are apparently used as taxi loading zones for convention center attendees. A police officer directing traffic for convention traffic were asked to ticket cabs idling in the bike lanes, but he responded his hands were tied because he was hired by the convention center to direct traffic, not enforce parking statutes.

So this guy got the bright idea to raise a few hundred dollars to hire a Toronto constable specifically for the purpose of ticketing bike lane parking scofflaws, since the city seems unwilling to direct resources to this themselves.

More here at I Bike T.O.

One Comment

  1. I like it, but is this what we've come to? Laws are only enforced if we pay the police — who we pay already — to enforce them? Great. Soon only the rich will choose which laws matter (not that it isn't sorta like that now…)

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