Cyclists stage ‘die-in’ to protest growing number of fatal collisions

WATCH ABOVE: Toronto cyclists stage a protest in front of City Hall.

TORONTO – Hundreds of cyclist staged a “die-in” protest in front of Toronto City Hall today, hoping to raise awareness for the growing number of fatal accidents in recent weeks and prompt Mayor John Tory to respond to cycling safety concerns.

The protest was organized by Cycle Toronto, which prompted supporters to lay motionless next to their bikes at 8:30 a.m. to send a message to City Hall that more needs to be done to keep the city’s streets safe for cyclists.

Executive Director of Cycle Toronto Jared Kolb held three minutes of silence for the three bikers who were killed in collisions in recent weeks, before giving out Tory’s office phone number in order to get the mayor to respond to their concerns.

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He said the event was “a moment to bring the community together and show solidarity,” in addition to putting three requests to the city: the need for a strong “vision zero” policy on cycling deaths, which is already in place in cities like New York City and Seattle, to ask the mayor to commit to building a “minimum grid” for cyclists and to increase investments in biking infrastructure from the current $8 million to $20 million.

“There’s certainly been some good news lately with the extension of the Richmond and Adelaide cycling tracks, the pilot proiject that’s been installed between Bathurst and University, that’s something that the mayor’s supportive of and he’s supportive of expanding it over to Parliament,” Kolb said.

“The problem is it’s just one corridor in a very big city and I think that with the deaths in recent weeks, not just of cyclists but also all the pedestrians who have died as well, are really going to show that we really need to increase investment to increase safety for people right across the city.”

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Tory responded to questions about the so-called “die-in” at a press conference on Friday, saying he was “deeply concerned” about the deaths of cyclists and pedestrians in recent weeks and called them “absolutely unacceptable.”

“It starts with people, whether they’re walking, on bikes or in cars, having a much higher level of awareness of each other because we’re all having to coexist in cities and that’s the way of the future,” he said.

“I think we have to obviously raise awareness for the need for everybody to watch out for each other, but I’ve always said that when it comes to cycling infrastructure, for example, that I have a strong preference for separated bike lanes.”

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Tory said he had spoken with newly appointed cycling czar Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati about the fact that he wants to place a priority on separated bike lanes because they’re much safer and give cyclists “a greater feeling of confidence” as they commute around the city.

“So this is obviously grave cause for concern when you see this many people losing their lives and so to that extent I want to thank the people who took the time this morning to show up and to express their concern in which I share,” he said.

“I hope there are things we can do both to raise awareness for safety concerns but also to  actually create more separate and safe bike lanes.”

Kolb said a memorial “ghost” bike ride will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m.