Toronto e-bike owner ticketed over strange incident involving horse painting
Art belongs in galleries, public displays, media, and just about anywhere a person can find beauty in the world, but one place art probably doesn’t belong is on a sidewalk travelling at high speed.
One e-bike rider in Scarborough learned this lesson the hard way after earning a ticket for multiple offences when caught driving along a sidewalk carrying a bulky painting of wild horses running free across a grassy plain that sent a passing pedestrian diving into a lawn for cover.
A pedestrian jumps onto the lawn to avoid being struck by an E-Bike.
The E-bike took up the whole sidewalk.
The driver was charged with a few Ebike offences. Please Ride Safe. #Toronto #ebike #ebikes #Scarborough pic.twitter.com/sl3JPFpc7d— PCPapadopoulos (@PCPappy) April 20, 2023
For starters, let’s get one important thing out of the way. This painting rocks as an objective, incontrovertible fact, even for entirely ironic reasons.
Is that 🖼️ worth more than the ticket? 😂😂
— RealtyPodcast🎙️ (@RealtyPodcast) April 20, 2023
The humour of the situation seemed to overshadow actual concerns about the incident, with comments about the painting of horses on an e-bike outweighing those about the resulting offences.
the irony of the painting 🤣🤣🤣
— Todd McCallum (@ToddyMac62) April 20, 2023
Even Police Constable Sean Shapiro gives credit where credit is due and agrees that this is some high art we’re looking at, though he stresses that it has no place on an e-bike cruising down a sidewalk.
Great catch @PCPappy! I like the painting but eBikes have no place on sidewalks.
— Sean Shapiro (@VoiceoverCop) April 20, 2023
Others, like the Durham Regional Police’s social media team, took the more obvious route in their humour, skipping the ironic praise of the painting in favour of a low-hanging pun that you probably already came up with independently before even making it this far into the story.
Way too much “horse power” for the sidewalks ^bb
— DRPS Traffic Services (@DRPSRoadSafety) April 20, 2023
Regardless of the painting’s merits or any hilarious symbolism you can pick out of this bizarre situation, the driver of the e-bike is likely facing some stiff fines for their actions. In the City of Toronto, fines for using an e-bike on the sidewalk can exceed $300 per offence.
500 dollars for smuggling Wild horses.
— Jake Reardon (@JakenBear) April 20, 2023
One person thanked police for ticketing the e-bike rider, adding, “I have been almost hit by bikes, scooters, e-bikes at least 20 times in the last few years.”
However, one commenter defends the practice of using e-bikes on sidewalks, saying, “I ride my e-bike on the sidewalk when the traffic is crazy. If I see another person coming towards me, I pull over to the right side and let them walk past me before I move again.”
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