Thank you to all cyclists who rode tonight (about 15).
Special thanks to Darren and Derek for organizing the ghost bike and banner.
Personal thanks to Darren J for lending me his camera for some of the photos.
More excellent images of the memorial on Toronto Cranks by Darren Stehr.
7 comments:
15 cyclists showing up for the memorial! In that ugly weather! I stand corrected (actually I'm sitting at the moment, but you know what I mean).
Next time I'm on the receiving end of suburbia-bashing I will try and think of those photos.
And (belated) welcome to my neighbourhood.
While that particular intersection is a cyclists nightmare, directly below it (literally) is the Don Valley bike system - a much more pleasurable commute.
I won't second guess why the deceased cyclist chose the route he did, but it's not the route I chose, even with the bike path having been chewed up for the last two years, even with having to traverse the ravine after dark at this time of year.
Let's hope there are no further memorials this year - anywhere in the city!
Maybe the cyclist was led there by all of the signs on Eglinton indicating a route (Diamond Lane) for cyclists during rush hour, they end at Leslie W/B. That route was appropriate for where he was heading. The Don Valley does not have bike paths, it has multi-purpose trails which in any case do not meet national standards for design. I rode them home from the memorial but I would never use them to commute. Nice, peaceful, scenic yes. Useful no, even more so when you mix pedestrians in. One does not ride on a sidewalk so why would one ride on a trail with pedestrians.
I'd like to echo darren's comments. The Don Valley trails are abysmal for distance commuting north of eglinton and of little value for an East-west route. As someone who used to do a daily ride up Leslie to Steeles, the paths are a slow and, since the flooding and abject lack of repair on the part of the city, are a difficult ride from Sunnybrook park to Edwards gardens. I pay for the damn roads and I should be able to use them safely.
As Darren said, the diamond lanes end at Leslie where there is a challenging lane exchange in order to keep going westbound into the merging traffic from southbound Leslie. Particularly complicated by the speed of traffic. As anyone in that area will know, the spot under the bridge just east of leslie is a classic speed trap. Unfortunately no one was there that night when we all saw the cement truck go screaming by.
I hear time and again how bike lanes are needed in the south and downtown areas. I think we often forget the lack of any such infrastructure in central and north Toronto. While I appreciate effort where it will do the most good, and there's far more cyclist south of Bloor, we need to expand the efforts a little further North and particularly east of Yonge.
First, let me say thanks to all those who attended the memorial. The cyclist was the father of one my daughter's friends...a wonderful man and father of two young kids. And, since he commuted daily by bicycle from his home in Bloor West Village to his work at Don Mills and Eglinton, I venture to say he took that route (Eglinton)as it was the most direct. A very, very sad day indeed.
Does anyone know if the driver of the cement truck was charged?
There is no word on charges thus far.
Of the last five tragic collisions involving trucks & cyclists 2 drivers were charged and the rest are still under investigation, including the one you're wondering about.
It can take up to year or more for any charges to be laid based on what I have seen.
Often, however, the driver gets off without a charge or just a minor fine. And they almost always get to keep driving.
So why you do this?
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