Toronto is not alone, throughout North America it's an open secret that if you want to get away with murder, use a car as your weapon instead of a gun or a knife.

In oregon we have a Vulnerable Road Users law. It honestly isn't great, but it is something and it would probably be worth more if we could get the police to start using it. The law requires someone who kills or seriously injures a vulnerable road user to either complete a driver safety course and 200 hours of community service, or pay a 12500 dollar fine and have their license suspended for a year. The big problem with trying to put forward criminal penalties for careless driving that leads to a death or serious injury is finding a jury with 12 people who don't do things like using their phones while driving. These dangerous distracted driving behaviors have become so prevalent that you can't find 12 people who all couldn't see the same thing happening while they were behind the wheel, so it becomes very difficult to convict.

That "use your car as a murder weapon" is a bit trite. If there is any evidence of intent, it's murder just the same. It makes a nice talking point, but doesn't really hold water if you think about it for more than 10 seconds.