Rise in cyclist collisions
Posted Sep 30, 2011 03:40:50 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It seems there has been a spike in crashes around the region involving cyclists.
This including a deadly one from earlier this month involving a teenage cyclist on Fairway road.
It was the first cycling fatality in the region this year.
Police say 14-year-old Tyrone Welbanks failed to stop before crossing Fairway Road at Thaler Avenue on September 12th.
He was struck by a truck and suffered severe head injuries and was airlifted to hospital in Hamilton where he died.
The driver of the truck is not facing charges.
Jim Wideman, chair of Waterloo Region’s Planning and Works Committee tells 570’s Jeff Allan show changes are on the way for Fairway, and along with those changes a safety study.
A new bridge over the Grand River is expected to open late next year, linking Fairway Road in Kitchener with Kossuth Road in Cambridge.
Wideman says that will only increase traffic volume.
He says the Planning and Works Committee is coming up with a plan for a safety review that will hopefully be presented at their next meeting.
Wideman says the safety study will include traffic counts, and generally looking for anything that could be improved at the intersection of Fairway and Thaler.
Meantime, Police remind cyclists to keep it safe, wear a helmet and that they must obey the same rules of the road as motor vehicles.
Yesterday, a 42-year-old cyclist was taken to hospital with non life threatening injuries after being hit by a Grand River Transit Bus on the corner of Victoria and Charles in Kitchener.
In Guelph, a 20-year-old cyclist from Oakville drove his bicycle through a red light at Ironwood Road near Edinburghand and was struck by a vehicle driven by a 19 year old male from Kitchener.
Guelph Police remind cyclists that they must obey the same rules of the road as motor vehicles.
The penalty for disobeying a red-light signal is the same for a cyclist as it would be for the driver of a motor vehicle, a total of $325.00.
