By Shawn Micallef, Toronto Star, September 29, 2017
It’s easy to die in Toronto.
I was reminded of this on a perfectly calm and warm night last week on a ride home from Fort York. I pedalled past the open and subdued Rogers Centre, where the Kansas City Royals were beating the Blue Jays, and turned up Simcoe St., one of the few streets with bike lanes that pass under the rail corridor in the central core.
(...)I stopped at Richmond before the crosswalk as I was supposed to. The construction blocked the view east so a garbage truck that roared around the corner was a surprise. It turned south from Richmond onto Simcoe quickly, cutting into the northbound lane where I was.
The big truck was all torque, barreling forward. The driver had to see me, I looked up at him a couple feet away as he passed, but perhaps he was going too fast. As the truck continued to turn south the back tires cut into my lane more and rolled toward me.
(...)Big trucks in small-scaled, people-filled cities make for a bad combination. Like many trucks, the vehicle didn’t have side guards that can prevent cyclists from going under trucks when they turn like this. The trucking industry has resisted efforts to make them mandatory. Those vehicles, as well as our street design that encourages fast driving and lazy skills, are killers.
