Advocates, police react after parents ticketed in crash involving 12-year-old cyclist
Posted Apr 8, 2026 07:42:23 AM.
Last Updated Apr 8, 2026 10:10:53 AM.
A crash in Waterloo between a pickup truck and a young girl riding a bike has sparked comments from advocates and regional police.
The collision took place at the intersection of University Avenue and Woolwich Street at around 8:40 a.m. on March 24. According to police, the crash involved a 46-year-old Waterloo man driving a black pick-up truck and a 12-year-old girl riding a bike.
The man wasn’t injured and was charged with making an unsafe turn and driving with an obstructed view. The girl was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The controversy in the case stems from the fact that, after the crash, police handed the parents of the girl a Provincial Offence Notice for allowing a person under 16 to drive a bicycle without a proper helmet.
“If you are sitting in a hospital with your kid, seriously injured after being run over by a huge pickup truck, the last thing you need is for an officer to come in and to hand you a ticket and say that she should have been wearing a helmet,” said David Shellnut, a personal injury lawyer who specializes in crashes involving cyclists.
David Shellnut, The Biking Lawyer, on The Mike Farwell Show
Shellnut, a bike crash victim himself, noted that the driver of the truck was given charges that didn’t reflect the severity of the situation.
“If this was a seriously injured kid, why wasn’t the charge for careless driving causing bodily harm? That’s got a real penalty to it,” said Shellnut. “If the police were interested in sending a message, that message should be sent to the party most responsible.”
Sergeant Scott Griffiths of the Waterloo Regional Police Service explained that the situation and the evidence from this case led them to hand the ticket to the parents.
“Too often, we see situations where we have serious head injuries,” said Griffiths. “A lot of times, bones can heal, things can be fixed, but head injuries and other traumatic brain injuries can cause a lifetime of pain and hurt.”
Griffiths explained that, although the police service falls short of handing a ticket to every cyclist who fails to wear a helmet, demonstrating the importance of wearing one can be the difference between a serious and a life-altering injury.
“This is something that can save a life, and this is something that we really need to encourage amongst people to maintain and to press with their children,” said Griffiths.
Shellnut claimed that the number of dangerous driving cases that have been thrown out in court has increased over the last decade, adding that the courts need to focus on punishing those who are creating dangerous instances on the roads rather than tickets for cyclists not wearing a helmet.
“This ticket has been issued, and it’s something that the courts will have to deal with when they can’t even deal with stuff that’s far more serious,” said Shellnut.
The intersection of University Avenue and Woolwich Street has been the site of dangerous collisions in the past. In January 2025, a 71-year-old woman and her dog were struck by a vehicle at the intersection.
In that case, the woman was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her dog died as a result of the collision.
