TORONTO – The onset of warmer weather means there will be a lot more motorcycles on the road, and Toronto police say they are also expecting to see more motorcycle crashes.
In the past four years, Toronto police say officers have seen the number of motorcycle fatalities rise from one in 2010 to seven last year, representing a substantial upward trend.
Police say the primary causes of these fatalities have been speed, driver inexperience and motorcycles too powerful for the rider to control.
Residents who live near the city’s busy Don Valley Parkway have already started calling police about the noise of motorcycles “ramping” – doing laps on the DVP on- and off-ramps – as well as pack riding at extreme speeds.
Police said these types of driving behaviours are common practice as the weather gets better and more motorcycles return to the road.
There have already been two serious motorcycle crashes in the city this week, but neither was fatal.
In one incident, the 29-year-old driver of a motorcycle struck a car and was thrown from his bike near Yonge Street and Pleasant Boulevard. The unmanned bike then struck a 67-year-old pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk. She suffered serious injuries.
Comments