Toronto’s streets have emptied out since the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the city into a partial shutdown, and the drop in traffic has coincided with a significant increase in the number of drivers caught speeding, according to figures provided by the city and police.

Average weekday traffic volumes on downtown arterial roads have dropped by an estimated 50 and 65 per cent, while average weekday volumes on the city’s two municipally owned highways, the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, have declined by an estimated 30 to 50 per cent.

The figures were provided to the Star by city transportation services and are based on traffic camera counts at select locations from the week of March 23 to 27, after social distancing recommendations prompted by the global pandemic compelled many residents to stay home.

The city compared those counts to traffic volumes measured between Jan. 16 and Feb. 15, before the COVID-19 crisis took hold.

There’s some indication that drivers who are still on the road are taking advantage of the extra space to break the law at higher rates.

According to statistics provided by Toronto Police Services, the force laid 2,471 charges for speeding between March 15 and 30 this year, an increase of about 27 per cent from the 1,947 charges during the same period in 2019.

The jump is even more pronounced for stunt driving offences, which are laid against drivers caught going at least 50 km/h over the speed limit.

Police laid 58 stunt driving charges from March 15 to 30 this year, more than double the 22 from the same period last year.

Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said the force can’t definitively conclude that the pandemic has caused an uptick in speeding, and normal factors such as weather can affect how many drivers go over the limit.

“But the fact remains we’re seeing fewer cars on the road, and that’s one of the factors that would play into an increase in both stunt driving and speeding related offences,” she said.

Gray said Toronto police haven’t eased up on traffic enforcement during the pandemic.

“It’s incorrect to assume that because the roads are emptier you can take advantage of that by disobeying traffic laws,” she warned.

City spokesperson Hakeem Muhammad said it’s too early to determine whether trends in collisions involving pedestrians and vehicles have changed since the crisis began. There has been one pedestrian death since the shutdown started, and there’s no indication it involved excessive speed. On March 24, a 2-year-old boy was killed when a driver reversed into him outside the entrance of an Etobicoke apartment building.

There was only one pedestrian death last month. The city recorded two in March of last year.

While it’s impossible to say whether specific road incidents are related to the COVID-19 crisis, there have been notable instances of speeding in Toronto in recent days.

On Monday afternoon, a driver slammed a Range Rover SUV into the Princes’ Gates near Lake Shore Blvd., causing the vehicle to explode. The Star reported skid marks on the scene indicated the driver was going about 160 km/h, on a straightaway of Princes’ Blvd. signed for 30 km/h.

Jess Spieker, a spokesperson for the road safety advocacy group Friends and Families for Safe Streets, said the higher number of speeding charges indicates lower traffic volumes have exacerbated existing problems with Toronto’s road design.

She cited wide roadways that “enable and induce drivers” to go fast, and “a near complete absence of any kind of physical protection” between drivers and vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists.

Spieker said at the best of times speeding and stunt driving is “reprehensible,” but such behaviour is particularly egregious during a public health crisis when hospitals are already at risk of being overburdened.

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She called on the city to block off some streets to cars during the pandemic to give pedestrians and cyclists more space. Toronto officials have said they have no plans to do so.

There are some potential upsides to the reduced traffic levels. Muhammad said the city was taking advantage of the situation by allowing contractors to do road work during rush hour, but noted such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis “while respecting the physical distancing directive provided by public health officials.”

He said the city is “continually reassessing the volume and frequency of road operation services that can be provided at this time” while still adhering to public health directives.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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