Aggressive driving in Vaughan out of control: resident, councillor

Thestar.com
Nov. 29, 2021
Jeremy Grimaldi

What can be done to curb dangerous driving in Vaughan?

The issue is front and centre in the community after three children, all aged under 11, were struck and killed by vehicles this summer in a city known for flashy cars, congestion and, increasingly, aggressive driving.

In all three cases, the children were not on the road, rather in a driveway and a sidewalk, when struck.

Statistics show an increase of 253 per cent in dangerous driving in Vaughan between 2019, when police laid 190 stunt driving charges between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, and the same months in 2021, when that number ballooned to 670.

Exasperation shows on the face of residents asked what can be done about the problem.

Eddy Aceti, a traffic-calming advocate in Maple, said his son’s recent brush with dangerous driving shook him to his core.

On Nov. 10, his son, Nicholas, 21, was pushed into the intersection at Melville Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive and almost into oncoming traffic by a black Dodge Ram pickup truck.

“All of a sudden there’s a slam … I just kept thinking, there’s no way this is happening,” said Nicholas, a science student at Waterloo university. “He kept pushing me. My foot was on the brake, but he wouldn’t stop.”

Unable to get the truck’s license plate, the pair decided to approach the media.

“The most common thing I see is if you make a full stop at a stop sign they get aggressive and honk at you, if you are driving the speed limit they race around you recklessly,” he said. “Guys race through crosswalks so they can beat you before you put your foot in the road.”

As for working with the council, he’s found it largely fruitless, with mechanisms moving slowly and disappointing results.

In the case of his local Melville Avenue, Aceti said he worked for more than 10 years with council to improve the situation on the road, which has become problematic in part because it's used by drivers to cut between Major Mackenzie and Rutherford Road.

But the changes made amounted to radar signs and a reduction of the speed limit to a 40 km/h on a small section of road, he said.

“They like Band-Aid solutions,” he said. “They want to placate residents, so they put signs up.”

Coun. Marilyn Iafrate agrees with Aceti that aggressive driving in Vaughan is out of control, believing the council will be a driver to solve the problem with its latest moves.

“Our drivers are crazy. No one stops at stop signs,” she explained, openly wondering why there are so many traffic scofflaws in the community. “What’s wrong? Why are people not adhering?”

She said in light of the death of Anaya, 10 and Jax, 4, a number of measures have come to the fore on Athabasca Drive, which has evolved into a pilot project for the rest of Vaughan.

They include drawing centre yellow lines and side lanes on roads to make it appear smaller to drivers, painted speed limits on roads and improved signage and floppy bollards in sections.

The council is also starting to deliver ‘slow down’ signs in hopes drivers will get the message.

Vaughan has hired an independent consultant to conduct a ‘review and analysis’ to come up with ideas to get drivers to slow down.

The consultants findings will be delivered in 2022.

“We’re going to take what works and apply it to other places and communities,” she said, musing about tougher measures like increasing fines and moving speed cameras out of ‘community zones’ and into Vaughan’s main roads.

“Maybe if you do get caught speeding, the fine should be double or triple,” she said. “We need tools. (York Region Police) can’t be everywhere clocking drivers. ”

In her gut though, she also feels much of the aggressive driving we’re witnessing will ease over time.

“Tiredness with COVID-19, pent up tension, some of it is working its way out on the pedal,” she said. “If you know there’s no one there to hold you accountable, there’s no reason to adhere people know that."