STREET LETHAL IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS, 20 PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS WERE STRUCK BY VEHICLES IN TORONTO ON MONDAY. MAYOR JOHN TORY WOULD LIKE TO GET THAT NUMBER TO ZERO
“It’s carelessness. Let’s call it what it is, individuals that have made mistakes, whether it’s cyclists, pedestrians, or drivers . . . and in some cases, it costs them their lives.” CONST. CLINT STIBBE TORONTO POLICE
The first call to police came just before 2a.m., and the calls didn’t stop coming for the next 20 hours.
As the reports poured in, their locations changed, but their grim theme remained the same: A pedestrian or cyclist had been hit by a car.
Monday, July 4, marked an extraordinarily dangerous day on Toronto’s roads. In less than 24 hours, there were 18 reported collisions involving 20 pedestrians and cyclists, according to police. Most of the victims escaped serious injury. But one, a 73-year-old man, was killed.
The deadly day came just a week before council is set to debate a new road safety plan that critics say doesn’t go far enough to combat ever-mounting traffic-related injuries and deaths in the city.
The trend didn’t end on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, a cyclist was killed near the intersection of Christie St. and Dupont St. Police said the 71-year-old rode at high speed into the back of a parked vehicle as he swerved to avoid a turning van.
And on Tuesday evening, a pedestrian was struck by a car in Scarborough at Eglinton Ave. E and Markham Rd. The man, believed to be in his 30s, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
“It’s hard to ignore numbers like these,” said Kasia Briegmann-Samson, whose husband Tom Samson died in 2012 after being hit by a car while riding his bike in the Junction neighbourhood.
Since his death, Briegmann-Samson has spoken about the need for better safety measures like lower speed limits and separated bike lanes. She said what’s so devastating about Toronto’s rash of traffic injuries is that it could be stopped.
“It’s extremely sad if it takes 20 people being injured or killed in one day to make things happen,” she said. “Every single one of these deaths are preventable. Every single one.”
Through a spokeswoman, Mayor John Tory said Tuesday he was “saddened” by the collisions, and called on drivers to “obey the law, slow down and stop aggressive behaviours.”
“The mayor is committed to making sure all those who use our roads — pedestrians, cyclists and drivers — are safe,” Tory spokeswoman Keerthana Kamalavasan wrote in an email. “One death on our roads is one too many. . . . We have to do more to prevent these tragedies and keep each other safe.”
So far this year, 22 pedestrians and one cyclist have been killed on Toronto’s roads, according to police. The city is on track to match the 40 pedestrian fatalities it posted in 2013, which was the highest single-year total in the past decade. Of Monday’s 20 reported victims, nine were cyclists and 11 were pedestrians.
Const. Clint Stibbe said the force typically sees about six pedestrian collisions a day, and it’s particularly unusual to see such high numbers in the early summer. It isn’t until later in the year, when darkness falls earli- er, that numbers tend to spike.
“That said, whenever we have a bright sunny day, kind of a day perfect for driving, it’s a day that we see individuals making mistakes, and unfortunately collisions occur,” he said.
Stibbe said the cause of Monday’s accidents is clear. “It’s carelessness. Let’s call it what it is, individuals that have made mistakes, whether it’s cyclists, pedestrians or drivers . . . and, in some cases, it costs them their lives.”
Police couldn’t provide details on all of Monday’s incidents, but according to initial reports, the first collision occurred at 1:41a.m. in Scarborough, when a pedestrian suffered minor injuries at Lawrence Ave. East and Susan St. At 8:16 a.m., a cyclist was knocked off her bike at College St. and Elizabeth St. and injured her head. Then at 11:43 a.m., a pedestrian was reportedly side-swiped by a car at Queen St. E. and Sumach St.
Late in the evening, in a single incident just after 8 p.m., three seniors were struck at the northwest corner of Huntingwood Dr. and Birchmount Ave. Police said they were taken to hospital but their injuries weren’t serious.
But less than an hour later, on the opposite side of the city, a 73-yearold was killed at the intersection of Kipling Ave. and Brookemere Rd. in north Etobicoke. According to police the man, whose identity has not been released, was crossing legally at a stoplight when he was hit by a driver making a left turn north from West Humber Blvd. The driver remained at the scene and police said Tuesday afternoon their investigation was ongoing.
“It’s actually startling to me what’s happening,” said Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), who as public works chair- woman spearheaded efforts to create the city’s new road safety plan.
She said the recent collisions are “a clear indication that we have to get the (road safety plan) into action now. Clearly, the status quo is not effective in reducing collisions and improving safety for vulnerable road users, meaning pedestrians, cyclists and seniors.”
The new safety strategy was unveiled last month by Robinson and Tory, and immediately faced criticism for setting a goal of reducing serious injuries and fatalities by only 20 per cent over 10 years.
Robinson amended the plan to explicitly set a target of eliminating fa- talities, but critics still say the strategy, which proposes safety measures at specific locations that have statistically a high number of collisions, is too narrow in scope. Advocacy groups like Walk Toronto argue that measures like reduced speed limits should be applied citywide.
The location of Monday’s fatal collision is just south of a stretch of Kipling, where the safety plan recommended reduced speed limits.
Critics also charge the budget for the strategy, set at $68.1 million over five years, is too small to have a real effect. Only about $40 million of that is new funding.
At a public works meeting last month, Robinson directed staff to seek out “opportunities for new and enhanced funding,” which she said could include money from other levels of government. She told the Star on Tuesday that staff members are expected to report back next Monday, a day before the council meeting at which the safety plan will go to a vote.
Jared Kolb, executive director of Cycle Toronto, said council needs to improve the plan next week if the city is to meet the “vision zero” target of completely eliminating serious collisions. As it stands, he said, the strategy sets out “a bold policy direction, but it does not have the resources to back it up.
“We need to scale up resources significantly to achieve vision zero here in the city of Toronto.”