Cyclist, 40, dies after collision with taxi on Macdonald parkway
A cyclist died after he was struck by a taxi on the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway early Friday.
The RCMP has identified the victim as Junfeng Wu, a 40-year-old Ottawa resident.
First responders were called to the crash near Onigam Street at 6:46 a.m.
Paramedics said Wu was pronounced dead at 7:08 a.m.
The westbound lanes of the parkway were closed at Onigam, which leads to Bell and Lemieux islands, as the RCMP investigated with the city police assisting with traffic control.
Cyclist Doug van den Ham tweeted that, when a cyclist was killed, “it brings home how small and tight-knit the #ottbike community is, particularly in the winter.”
Among cyclists, it sparks a “flurry of checking in via social media,” while some receive calls from worried spouses to make sure they’re OK.
“There’s moments of relief as friends are accounted for,” van den Ham wrote. “Concern that others haven’t been. We all know that there’s a strong likelihood it’s someone we know. Maybe a friend, a teammate, someone we wave to each morning.
“But even if it isn’t one of our friends; we all know it’s someone’s friend, teammate, or family member because most of us have been there before. There’s too many killed on our roads. And each loss touches our community in a profound way.”
There have been an average of two fatal bike collisions a year in Ottawa since 2003, according to Bike Ottawa.
The group also said nearly 12,000 Ottawa residents cycle to work regularly.