Montreal City Weblog

Kate 08:42 on 2024-04-28 Permalink Reply  

• Ian 15:15 on 2024-04-28 Permalink

  Another heavy truck. When will the city address this problem?

• bumper carz 12:41 on 2024-04-29 Permalink

  Trucks putting lives in danger… is a problem all over North America (and elsewhere), so this problem needs to be resolved on a much larger scale than “the city.”

  It’s amazing how the last five generations of parents were totally fine (pacified by mass media?) with the takeover of public spaces by the operators of dangerous vehicles.

• Kate 14:44 on 2024-04-29 Permalink

  qatzelok, you’d probably enjoy this Vox piece on how cars got so big:

  https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popularity-federal-policy-pollution

  But the problem for cyclists and pedestrians here is not usually pickup trucks and SUVs but the effect of really big vehicles knocking people down, usually at corners. (The federal policy referred to in the article and its URL is U.S. policy, not Canadian, but we mostly use their cars so it’s relevant here too.)

• Ian 14:48 on 2024-04-29 Permalink

  That doesn’t mean that the city couldn’t enact rules, qatzi, or even better, enforce existing rules more strictly.

  Commercial vehicles seem to operate with a certain level of impunity, like parking in green alleys or in resident-only parking areas, idling on corners, double parking, whatever. Hanging a safety vest out the window of your truck is like a universal no-tickets-for-me magic item.

• DeWolf 19:06 on 2024-04-29 Permalink

  I live on what is technically a ruelle verte and it’s a joke. For years there has been so much construction (basically vanity renovations by people who want to turn their duplexes into McMansions) that the constant coming and going of heavy vehicles during the day makes it a dangerous place to play for kids. Luckily the amount of construction has calmed down a bit this year and, like magic, suddenly at 5pm there are dozens of kids out playing in the alley.

  The thing is, rules are already on the books. Heavy trucks are prohibited on most streets. Trucks are certainly prohibited in alleyways. It’s just that there are so many exceptions — and such little enforcement — that the rules don’t matter. I think in this case qatzelok is right, the only way we see real change is through some more fundamental change beyond Montreal.

• Ian 22:25 on 2024-04-29 Permalink

  Sounds more like “we tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas”.
  Laws and regulations mean nothing if they aren’t enforced.