A few weeks ago Toronto began changing speed limit signs in residential areas from 50kph to 40kph, the reason given was to help reduce ever increasing vehicle & pedestrian collision injuries. Now In an interview aired on CTV news, Mayor John Tory announced Toronto would no longer enforce the bylaw banning road hockey, basically inviting our children to go out and play in traffic for hours in these very streets while distracted from the danger with a game of hockey.

I am close to the mayors age and have lived in the same house for the past 50 years.  With this perspective I can say with out a doubt road hockey in most of  Toronto is not the same innocent game it was in the 1960s when John Tory and I played.  Back when it was legal not to seat belt kids in cars and lawn darts and wood burning kits were popular toys, playing road hockey in light traffic fit right in.  Today seatbelts are mandatory and toys considered even remotely dangerous are banned, but not only has road hockey continued, it has become a lot more dangerous then back then.  The number of cars in Toronto has increased exponentially.  What used to be mostly empty and clear streets are now busy and filled with parked cars with just enough room left for traffic to get by.

Mr. Tory was elected partly from frustrated Toronto drivers because he was going to get Toronto’s traffic moving, but by lowering speed limits and now turning streets into playgrounds, driver frustration could hit a new high. This driver attitude along with the attitude of some of todays youth can make for a deadly combination.
Not only is road hockey now a days a danger to our kids it can also cause a lot of property damage to vehicles.  After buying a new car in 2008 we watched helplessly over the next couple of years as the nightly road hockey game in front of our house caused half a dozen dents and 2 cracked windshields.  We would often go out to find kids sitting on the hood while taking a break from the game.  The screeching of car brakes became a familiar sound as kids darted out in traffic from between  parked cars after battling an opposite team member with sticks against the trunk of one of the cars for the hard rubber ball.  The familiar yelling of “car”,  and kids clearing the street to let traffic go by has long gone on my street.  Because of an increased frequency of traffic, most of the time the kids would not move and just keep playing.  If a car honked at them the driver was told to “f@ck off” and when finally allowed to pass have a have a hockey stick threateningly waived at them as they drove by.  Despite numerous complaints by us to the police the games continued.  Suddenly during the Rob Ford days the games stopped and so did the chaos on our street.  Now with this announcement and our new 5 month old car there is a good chance we will go through the same thing again.
I fail to understand some of the people that are still in favor of keeping road hockey going just because it’s been around for such a long time.  In the same John Tory announcement story, CTV news interviewed a mother who after complaining about how dangerous the traffic on her street was, actually complemented John Tory’s decision to allow road hockey so her kids could play there.
I am not against kids playing ball hockey and playing out doors but times have changed and these games are no longer safe or practical to be played on busy side streets.  Less than 200 metres from my house is an under utilized city park few people go to.   I am all for spending tax payers money on practical things, like paving an area there for a ball hockey rink as well as any other parks where kids would use it.  Although I believe there still might be some areas where road hockey might work and could be left alone,  whenever there is a complaint about safety or property damage law enforcement should shut it down.

In a city that banned tobogganing in some parks last winter for fear of being sued it boggles my mind how they are willing to turn a blind eye to the law and allow kids to play in traffic.  There is absolutely no question by allowing road hockey in Toronto now, its not a question of if, but when and how many children are seriously injured or killed.  Although being traumatic for all involved, the real blame and child’s blood will be on the mayor’s hands and those that support his decision.

Still support Mayor Tory’s position on road hockey after reading this?  Let me know what kind of car you drive and where you park, I know some kids that need practice with their slap shot.

Dave  Lister

listerlogic.com