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Cycle analysis

Toronto’s cycling advocates are hoping that a provincial coroner’s review of fatal bicycle accidents will lead to safer streets for the city’s two-wheeled travelers. The province-wide probe, announced Monday (October 24), will look into the causes of Ontario cycling deaths between 2006 and 2010 and make recommendations on how to prevent deadly accidents.

Andrea Garcia of the Toronto Cyclists Union says the results of the probe could be used as leverage to push the city for better cycling infrastructure.

“This is one of the most positive steps in recent years to address the real issues that face motorists and cyclists on our streets,” Garcia says. “We know that cycling in our city is increasing so it’s time to make investments in safe infrastructure.”

Dr. Dan Cass, regional supervising coroner for Toronto West, will lead the review, and he says it’s too early to say whether the report will recommend building more bike lanes or other bike infrastructure as a strategy to keep cyclists safe.

“In our view, all cycling deaths are preventable deaths,” he says. “Everything is on the table. We’re not going in with any preconceived agenda. What we want to do is look at what the data shows us.”

That data appears to indicate that while the number of cyclists is increasing in Ontario, the number of fatalities is holding steady at about 15 or 16 a year. An average year in Toronto sees two or three cycling deaths.

This isn’t the first time the Ontario coroner has investigated such deaths. Following the highly publicized deaths of two female cyclists in Toronto in 1996, the coroner launched a city-wide review that ultimately became a major factor in the creation of the Toronto bike plan in 2001.

That plan called for the installation of 1,000 kilometres of bike lanes and paths by 2011, but as of last November less than half that, some 430 kilometres, had been built.

Unlike the review provoked by the deaths in 1996, the investigation announced Monday will be province-wide. Garcia hopes Queen’s Park will take action where the city has stalled.

“There are certainly things the province could do to nudge the city in the direction of better cycling, such as funding for cycling programs or creating a comprehensive provincial cycling plan,” she says. “There isn’t much of that going on at the moment.”

Other steps the province could take to improve cycling safety include enacting a “1-metre rule” that would compel drivers to give cyclists a wider berth when passing. Nova Scotia passed a law to that effect last year, and the idea was floated earlier this year by provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

No matter what the results of the review, getting the current city administration to commit to more biking infrastructure could be a hard sell.

A staunch supporter of a cars-first approach to the roads in his days as city councillor, Mayor Ford has since been met with mixed reviews when it comes to cycling policy.

There are ambitious plans to build a downtown network of separated bike lanes, but the priority so far has been the removal of lanes on Birchmount and Pharmacy, and on Jarvis next year.

And while Ford and his circle have built a reputation among their critics for shutting out empirical evidence that contradicts their own ideas, Garcia is optimistic that they’ll pay attention to data from the coroner’s review.

“I would hope that hard, indisputable evidence has some effect on their decision-making,” she says.

The review, the result of pressure by a coalition of activists led by lawyers Patrick Brown and Albert Koehl, is expected to be completed by spring 2012.

bens@nowtoronto.com

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