August 31, 2016 (Montreal, QC) – Last week saw five cyclists struck down by motor vehicles in Montreal with one of them being killed reports the Journal de Montréal. Three of the five accidents involved trucks hitting cyclists.
At least one of these cyclists, Edmund Leduc, 23, was riding on a bike path when he was struck by a car coming out of a side street. Leduc suffered a dislocated shoulder and had his bike bent up. Not so lucky was Justine Charland St-Amour, 24, who was killed by a truck turning right on Aug 23; police said nobody was at fault.
Another cyclist was seriously injured Aug. 27, also on a bike path, when a truck hit him near the Grande Bibliothèque; the 18-year-old cyclist remains in critical condition. The three other cyclists, including Leduc, do not have life-threatening injuries.
The end of August and beginning of September are especially problematic suggests Suzanne Lareau, president of Vélo Québec. “It’s a crazy time of year,” she explained, noting the numerous road construction sites and how drivers’ patience is tested. There are also numerous college and university students who come to Montreal and ride bikes.
Lareau added that some 31% of serious injuries to cyclists are caused by trucks. But when Vélo Québec sat down with the l’Association de camionnage du Québec ( trucking association) to discuss better ways to share the road, “they were not very open to making changes.”
Read more in the Journal de Montreal here and here
August 31st, 2016 at 4:37 pm
No one was at fault? Impossible, unless an act of God. I was a police officer for a couple of years and investigated many vehicle accidents and there is always a careless someone who is to blame. The truck ran over a cyclist while the truck was doing a turn. Gee, what a give away. The police in general side with motor vehicles over cyclists as some police think of as pests on the road. I would have an investigation of the police reports.
September 1st, 2016 at 3:44 pm
If I’m not mistaken Montreal had a record of five cyclists killed in one day around ten years ago (not sure of date) and at the time I had three daughters living there. Talk about anxiety.
Police with cavalier attitude and all cities and areas that allow this kind of slaughter due to their disinterest in cycling safety should be charged with a crime of omission knowing full well that their incompetence on cyclist safety will mean unnecessary injuries or deaths.
September 1st, 2016 at 11:36 pm
If the truck driver wasn’t charged,then it is because the cyclist was at fault.
Most likely trying to squeeze through on the right before the truck made the turn…..some trucks have 53ft trailers attached to them.
The cyclist could easily have been caught under the trailer wheels or simply died from the impact of slamming into the side of the trailer.
Maybe it was just easier to tell a family that no one was at fault rather than say “your loved one is at fault and this was preventable”. No one needs to hear that.