In 2015, Jessica Spieker was riding her bike on a Toronto street when she was hit by a woman driving an SUV. He suffered a fractured spine, brain damage and extensive soft tissue damage, he told CBC News. “You never fully recover from something like that,” Spiker said. “I live with chronic pain. I live with debilitating depression and anxiety. I’m never going to be the same person I was before this happened.” Spieker is a member of Friends and Families for Safe Streets, a group of traffic survivors and loved ones of those killed or seriously injured on Toronto’s streets. It is just one of 16 Ontario groups asking Dr. Dirk Huyer, the province’s chief medical examiner, to investigate whether larger vehicles pose a greater risk to pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. In 2015, Jessica Spieker was riding her bike when she was hit by a woman driving an SUV. (Grant Linton/CBC News) The groups have submitted a letter to Huyer’s office that includes an investigation from the United States. One of the studies, from 2021, estimates that 8,131 pedestrians between 2000 and 2019 could survive if they were hit by sedans instead of SUVs or trucks. Another study, published in the Journal of Safety Research in June, found that while SUVs and trucks made up just 26.1 percent of pedestrian-cyclist collisions, they accounted for 44.1 percent of fatalities. This study also suggested that due to their larger size, SUVs and trucks are more likely to hit vulnerable road users in the chest or head than a sedan. Albert Koehl, the founder of the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition, another of the groups that petitioned the chief medical examiner’s office, told CBC News that the US investigation prompted them to look at Toronto’s data on pedestrian and cyclist deaths. Albert Koehl is the founder of the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition, one of 16 groups asking Ontario’s chief medical examiner to review deaths caused by larger vehicles than walking and cycling. (Gant Linton/CBC News) “What we found in terms of the police evidence is consistent with the investigation,” Koehl said. In 2021, about 35 percent of those deaths in Toronto involved SUVs while another 10 percent involved trucks, he said. The number of vehicle occupant deaths has fallen dramatically over the past 20 years, while walking and cycling deaths have remained the same or increased, he added. “That’s why we want a neutral expert to look at the evidence and make recommendations to every level of government, and the auto industry as well, to save lives on our roads,” Koehl said. Daniella Levy-Pinto, a member of a group called Walk Toronto, said one of the main problems is the weight of SUVs and trucks and the “kinetic force” with which they hit a person. He also said their height makes them more dangerous. Daniella Levy-Pinto, pictured with her guide dog Angelo, is a spokesperson for Walk Toronto. He wants people who drive SUVs and trucks to understand the extent of the damage these vehicles can cause. (Grant Linton/CBC News) “The fact that they’re taller means that drivers have blind spots that prevent them from seeing pedestrians or bicyclists,” Levy-Pinto said. He added that the vehicles’ wider and taller front ends make them more likely to damage a person’s vital organs and said he wants drivers to be aware of the extent of the damage these vehicles can cause.
The coroner’s office has made recommendations in the past
In addition to protecting vulnerable road users, Koehl said he hopes this information will make prospective buyers think twice before purchasing a vehicle that may be more dangerous. He also hopes Huyer will act quickly on the teams’ request. “We’re asking the medical examiner to do what he traditionally does, which is to look at the evidence,” Koehl said. “[He] it has done this before, over a decade ago, with pedestrian and cycling deaths on the road, and made a number of recommendations.” In September 2012, Dr. Andrew McCallum, Ontario’s chief medical examiner at the time, released a review of pedestrian deaths caused by a series of collisions that occurred in January 2010. McCallum made 26 recommendations which included:
Creating a ‘walking strategy’ for Ontarians. Adopting a ‘full streets’ approach to guide the development of new communities and the regeneration of existing communities. Installation of side bumpers on heavy trucks. Giving municipalities more flexibility to adjust speed limits and create more pedestrian crossings. Educating drivers about the scenarios that can lead to pedestrian collisions.
Some of those recommendations have yet to be implemented, Koehl said. The coroner’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. Spieker said she is not only concerned for those killed and injured in the clashes, but also for their loved ones. “We don’t hear from these families because when this happens to you, you’re devastated,” he said. He hopes one day to see federal restrictions on how much a vehicle can weigh, how much power it can have and how big blind spots can be, Spieker said. “It just makes me feel an explosion of sadness and anger because this is all preventable.”
