It’s time to increase fines from $85 to $500 for blocking the box on any and all intersections. Doing so would make it’s safer for everyone including pedestrians.

  • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    I think fines and enforcement for all intersection related offences should increase.

    Cops focus way too much on speeding along the highways and not enough with trying to catch people running red lights and stop signs, blocking intersections, taking left turns while pedestrians are crossing, etc.

    So many people die from intersections and pedestrian crossing yet cops focus on highway speeding for some reason.

    • dom@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Cause its easy. Hangout at a busy spot inthe highway and you can see a ton more cars speeding than if you hung out at an intersection

      • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        It would free up so much more time for police if they instead spent money on cameras at highways.

        If you have a camera at two fixed points along a highway you can easily calculate the speed that a car travels between those two points.

        Have one car pictured at 9am and then pictured again at 9:50am 100km away through a stretch that’s 100km/h?

        Automatic ticket, easy. Obviously they had to have gone over the speed limit unless they know how to break the laws of physics.

        • Dearche@lemmy.ca
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          8 months ago

          I remember reading about a particular speeding camera that is actually turned off the majority of the time due to the sheer number of speeding tickets that are produced from it alone. It’s so much that it clogs up the entire system so they just gave up and turned it off for like 2/3rd of the time so the people processing those tickets have time to work on other cameras.

          Raising the fines is good and all (rather it really should be done), but I think the entire ticketing system needs to be overhauled as well so that it’s far more streamlined to handle massive loads without hiring thousands of more people to brute force the problem.

          The number of people who brag about their fines is staggering, treating them like badges of honor. If you check out automotive forums, you’ll see it all the time, with people trading tips on how to push the limits of the demerit system to avoid having their license revoked without actually fixing their habits.

          • jadero@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            That sounds like the confectionary that stopped carrying a particular chocolate bar because they couldn’t keep it stock. True story.

            If they can’t keep up to infractions, the solution is not to ignore infractions but to scale up. Or, in this case, put some traffic engineers on the case to see what’s special about that stretch of road.

    • Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      yet cops focus on highway speeding for some reason.

      I’m not even opposed to focusing on speeding. But maybe the 30kph road infront of a school is more important than some stretch of rural transcan?

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    Reliable punishment beats harsh punishment. You could just spritz bad drivers in the face, like a cat, and they’d improve through reinforcement learning.

  • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    If it’s anything like in the US sometimes the intersections are screwed up and you can sit at a light through a few greens without moving because the road you need to go on gets filled by turning lanes before the light turns red and fills up before yours is green again.

    • Hyacin@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Which is what makes the next people feel like they have to pile in to the box or they’ll never get anywhere.

      It’s the same where rights are allowed on reds. If you don’t pile into the box and there is a line of cars waiting to make a right, someone WILL steal that spot when it opens up just past the box, because people are selfish assholes, full stop.

  • Yezzey@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    It’s time for police to have powers to make people take thier license again if needed.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Entitlement, carelessness, audacity and a single-minded devotion to self-interest all swirl together and trigger a brain response that tells the driver, “This is okay.”

    It delays other drivers and puts pedestrians and cyclists in danger, as they must squeeze around vehicles that could move at any moment.

    In 2018, NYPD uniformed officers began to crack down on violators at 50 select New York City intersections and “Don’t Block the Box” signs were posted to warn drivers.

    In April 2023, Toronto city council approved a motion from Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie imploring the provincial government to implement severe penalties.

    In April 2023, Toronto assigned 30 traffic agents to work troubled intersections and prevent drivers from blocking the box, but that’s cold comfort.

    And so, in Toronto and the rest of the country, irresponsible drivers will continue to plug our intersections.


    The original article contains 667 words, the summary contains 139 words. Saved 79%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 months ago

    Also, people who don’t engage their turn signal until after the light turns green. If you didn’t warn me to change lanes before getting behind you because you’re planning to turn, you shouldn’t get to block my procession. Unenforceable, but it bothers me.

  • Kichae@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    Wow, the number of people here who are all “The meth addicts who carry firearms on the job and have a rich and unwavering history of racial profiling should be more involved in minor non-violent offenses” is kind of crazy. Have any of y’all thought this one through at all?