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The brazen vandalism and the public attention it’s garnered has had a counterintuitive consequence: It’s got people talking about speed cameras, and, as a result, what role they should have in our metropolis, one still striving for the goals of Vision Zero.

Those conversations have been reflected by our leaders. Recently, Premier Doug Ford called the cameras cash grabs. City Councillor Anthony Perruzza accused º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøof nabbing poor speeders without enough warning.

But before we revisit the topic of speed cameras, it’s instructive to remember: We’ve already had this debate, and Team Speed Camera won — for a reason.

The actions of a few may grab the headlines, but any conversation about the role and validity of speed cameras will benefit from being rooted in facts and figures.

Here’s how we got here

The Ford government in 2019 approved photo radar for º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøschools and safety zones with requirements, including signs erected to warn motorists at any camera location 90 days before installation. Then-mayor John Tory had asked to use the technology, starting with 50 cameras in 2020, to slow motorists in line with the city’s “Vision Zero” commitment after a spike in pedestrian and cyclist deaths.

Parkside’s photo radar device was installed in 2022 after a driver going 120 km/h slammed into another vehicle, killing cherished grandparents Valdemar and Fatima Avila, one of the most dramatic examples of a shockingly common problem.

More tickets being handed out

Between January and April 2024, Toronto’s speed cameras triggered 163,336 tickets. For the same period this year, with more cameras operating, the number of tickets rose to 263,054. More drivers getting more tickets means more anger, amid city efforts to unlock Toronto’s notorious traffic gridlock.

So far this year the city’s 150 photo radar cameras have been vandalized 484 times — on average more than 2.5 incidents day. City hall is working with the company contracted to provide and maintain the cameras, and police, to reduce the crimes, a city spokesperson said.

The number of camera vandals caught this year, meanwhile? Zero.

Are speed cameras ‘cash grabs’?

Now, you can argue about how many cameras is too many cameras, how many tickets is too many tickets, but there is no evidence they contribute to gridlock while there is ample evidence they make our roads safer.

Hospital for Sick Children and º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMetropolitan University researchers analyzed º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøspeed and collision data in 2022. They found that automated enforcement significantly reduces the number of people speeding and improves driver behaviour. City data has shown that the number of tickets issued at individual camera sites drop over time as drivers, including those already ticketed, heed warnings on signs and traffic apps to slow down or get stung.

Toronto’s deadly roads

Twenty-two Torontonians died on º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøroads last year, 10 of them pedestrians including Bilkis Khanam, a pregnant mother of three struck in a crosswalk. Just over halfway through 2025, shows the death toll is already higher, at 23 people including 10 pedestrians, seven drivers, five motorcycle riders and one cyclist. 

No doubt some Torontonians are cheering the Parkside vandal. Others are, apparently, busy vandalizing other cameras.

City hall has not said if it is considering other possible steps that could serve as deterrents, such as civil lawsuits, which would have the combined threat of serious financial harm and public exposure.

For now, city hall is reckoning with how can it protect millions of Torontonians just trying to get around when it can’t protect one camera.