City stresses bike-truck collision awareness

TORONTO — Toronto’s Cycling Committee Chair, Councillor Adam Giambrone, along with City staff and Toronto Police, wants to bring to light recent fatalities and ways to avoid bicycle and truck collisions.

“The fact is that the last five cyclist deaths in Toronto have involved trucks, and it’s a pattern we can’t ignore,” said Giambrone.

Giambrone says most cyclist collisions are not with trucks, but those that are tend to be deadly. “Truck drivers and cyclists have to be aware of each other and the safest way to share the road,” he said.

To develop measures for bolstering truck and pedestrian-cyclist safety, the Transportation Association of Canada has just begun a research study into causes of collisions between pedestrians, cyclists and large commercial vehicles. Toronto is a co-sponsor of the study, along with Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

City staff, recommend the following tips for cyclists and drivers:

Cyclists should not share a lane with a truck. Stay ahead or behind. A truck occupies the full lane.

— Do not pass a right turning truck on the right side and do not start from a stop beside a truck. Low speeds make it difficult track a straight line.

— Cyclists need to be aware of blind spots. The truck driver cannot see them if they’re beside the truck or close behind the truck.

Furthermore, says the TAC, truck drivers should not pass too closely, or put a cyclist in their blind spot.