It’s been almost a year since Kartik Saini was fatally struck by a Ford F250 on a Toronto crosswalk.
In fact, the 20-year-old international student was reportedly pinned underneath the vehicle and dragged for some time as a result of the driver allegedly making an illegal right turn.
Dave Shellnutt, also known as The Biking Lawyer, along with many residents and cyclists, honoured the life lost in a bike ride last December.
RIP #KartikSaini, you never ride alone.
— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) December 1, 2022
An honour to ride with you all, for one of us. #BikeTO pic.twitter.com/4ez6CMhF3V
“You never ride alone. An honour to ride with you all, for one of us,” Shellnutt tweeted last year.
Today, his dedication to legally representing pedestrians and cyclists who have become victims of dangerous driving hasn’t changed.
According to him, what happened to Saini and so many other victims begs the question of whether or not the City of Toronto should seriously consider banning right turns on red lights.
“As lawyers for many injured cyclists who have been “right hooked”, me included, we know that driver attention is often lacking with respect to assessing an intersection for vulnerable road users,” Shellnutt told Now Toronto in an email statement on Tuesday.
“In a shocking number of cases we handle for injured cyclists, right hooks have been the cause of their injuries. The high cost of inaction here and the negative consequences for people and families affected by road safety failures far outstrips any argument for not instituting no rights on reds.”
He goes on to note that drivers fail to look out for cyclists or pedestrians to their right as they race to make a light or beat an oncoming vehicle.
Additionally, trying to get to work or home during rush hour for many has pretty much become a life or death situation if drivers have their head in the clouds.
“As winter approaches, snow falls and light conditions vary, we call upon all road users to exercise extreme caution. People cycle all year in Toronto. Motorists, please watch out for them and consider the safety of others over an unnecessary urge to make that next light or pass that streetcar. Someone’s life could be at stake,” he continued.
Right now, Montreal is the only major Canadian city that bans right turns on red lights and New York City is the only major American one to ban them in most places.
We reached out to the City of Toronto to see what plan it has in order to deter fatal accidents playing out in our streets.
“The City of Toronto has considered a blanket, city-wide ban on right-turns-on-red (RTOR) and found there would be a potential safety benefit at some locations, but that at other locations, introducing RTOR prohibitions may result in less safe conditions for people walking and cycling,” the city wrote in an email statement.
According to city officials, they have developed a strategy to identify intersection locations that would benefit from right turn on red lights being prohibited.
This includes locations with a historic trend of collisions and skewed intersections where “sightline limitations” could result in the inability to make right-turn movements safely.
Another location is anywhere that crossing pedestrians and cyclists significantly outnumber right-turning vehicles.
Earlier this month, Toronto launched its annual Vision Zero campaign to remind road users of reduced visibility as clocks turn back as well as urging everyone to stay alert, look out for each other and obey the rules of the road.
For more information about this city-wide initiative, click here.
