Man charged in January death of well-known cyclist in North Vancouver

A man has been charged under the Motor Vehicle Act in the “dooring” death of a cyclist in North Vancouver earlier this year.

Patrick Timothy Colwell, 59, is facing one count of unsafely opening the door of a vehicle in connection with the Jan. 27 incident that claimed the life of 55-year old Mike McIntosh.

The charge was sworn on July 4.

North Vancouver RCMP said a cyclist was travelling westbound in the 100-block of West Esplanade around 1:45 p.m. when he collided with a westbound dump truck.

McIntosh, a North Vancouver resident and a librarian at Simon Fraser University, died at the scene after allegedly being knocked under the dump truck’s wheels when the truck’s door was opened into the bike lane McIntosh was riding in.

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According to an online tribute posted by SFU, McIntosh was a liaison librarian based at SFU Vancouver’s Belzberg Library, and had been with Belzberg since it opened in 1989.

The memorium page states that McIntosh was an avid cyclist and bicycle commuter for many years.

“For the reading pleasure of his fellow cyclists and Library staff, he even wrote up a typically detailed and thoroughly-researched guide … which included maps and many very practical tips for commuting between the main SFU Library on Burnaby Mountain and the Library’s branches at SFU Surrey and SFU Vancouver,” the tribute reads.

It also states that McIntosh will be dearly missed by his colleagues in the library and throughout SFU who “enjoyed his dry wit and unflappable nature.”

Under the Motor Vehicle Act, a person “must not open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so.”

The maximum punishment for the ticketed offence is a fine of $81.

Colwell is scheduled to appear in North Vancouver provincial court on July 24.