This traffic automated traffic enforcement ticketing camera on Royal York Road was among almost 600 incidents of the devices being vandalized in the last year in Toronto. Photos by Susie Basheir.
Residents along Royal York Road believe this automated speed enforcement ticketing camera was deliberately pushed over by a disgruntled motorist.
The heavy camera box, which weighs hundreds of pounds, was shoved to the ground on June 10 on Royal York Road, just north of The Queensway, near the Etobicoke School of the Arts.
The sign alerting motorists of the camera system is high and partially hidden from view by trees.
The sign alerting motorists of the automated traffic camera on Royal York Road is high and partially hidden by trees.
There has been a rash of traffic ticket cameras vandalized , sprayed with paint or tipped over in Toronto and Peel Region in the last year.
One speed camera in Bloor West Village was spray painted on 31 different occasions over the span of just a few months last year.
Another located near an elementary school in Toronto’s east end was tipped over 19 times, temporarily knocking it out of service for multiple days on at least three of those occasions.
A Toronto automated traffic camera defaced by someone who spray painted the lens. Photo by Global News.
A third camera, in Scarborough’s Highland Creek neighbourhood, was moved by vandals despite its weight. It was out of service for eight days as a result.
Toronto Police said there were 555 incidents of speed camera vandalism reported between June 2022 and May 2023.
Last year there were more than of 172 reports of vandalism in Peel Region to its automated speed enforcement camera units.
The City said speeding is a serious problem on its roads and the cameras help to “make our streets safer for everyone by encouraging drivers to slow down and obey the speed limit.”