Cultural shift needed to ensure cyclists, motorists seen as equals

Inequality will continue to exist between cyclists and motorists until a major change takes place in the form of separated bike lanes on the majority of city streets or stiffer penalties that reflect the importance of sharing the road, Toronto critical injury lawyer Patrick Brown tells NOW Magazine.

The deaths of four cyclists since the end of May prove how dangerous Toronto streets are for cyclists, says the report, which applauds the city for efforts made to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, but says there is more to be done.

Brown, a partner with McLeish Orlando LLP who’s represented hundreds of cyclists injured or killed in collisions with motorists, says many drivers involved in collisions with cyclists end up with nothing more than a fine.

‘Inequality will continue to exist’

“Many have a mistaken understanding that roads are solely for cars. The inequality between road users, unfortunately, can seep into the mindset of police, policy-makers, witnesses and judges,” Brown tells the magazine. “There needs to be a cultural shift. Until that happens, or we give cars and bikes separated space, inequality will continue to exist.”

The province passed legislation in June, the Making Ontario’s Roads Safer Act, requiring motorists to stay one metre away when passing cyclists, when possible. It also adds demerit points for drivers who door cyclists, says the article.

City council also recently voted to ask the province to study imposing stiffer penalties, all the way up to suspending licences and jail time, for motorists who kill or seriously injure cyclists, NOW reports.

“Between 2007 and 2009, the number of cyclist-motor vehicle collisions averaged about 1,100 per year,” reports the publication. That number started rising from there, to 1,268 in 2010, 1,315 in 2011, 1,475 in 2012 and 1,042 to September 30 in 2013, according to the most recent collision statistics available from the Toronto Police transportation services.