Toronto is trying to retrofit its heavy-duty automobiles with aspect guards in an effort to scale back pedestrian deaths.
The protecting railings or bars may be mounted on the perimeters of huge vehicles between the axles to assist stop individuals from being pulled beneath the wheels in a collision.
Mayor Olivia Chow mentioned having them on metropolis automobiles “means saving lives. It means less tragedy. It means safety.”
In response to metropolis employees, aspect guards can scale back bike owner fatalities by roughly 62 per cent and pedestrian fatalities by 20 per cent.
Standing in entrance of a automobile outfitted with aspect guards Wednesday, Chow recalled a promise she made to the husband and baby of Jenna Morrison – a 38-year-old yoga teacher who was fatally struck by a transport truck whereas biking again in 2011 – again when she was an MP.
“I promised her husband at the time that I would do something to make sure that this doesn’t happen again to other people,” Chow mentioned.
She mentioned she has championed the change for years, however has hit roadblocks, notably across the trucking trade, which she mentioned has resisted efforts to make the guards obligatory.
A report coming earlier than the town’s Infrastructure and Surroundings Committee subsequent week is recommending that the town retrofit all city-owned industrial automobiles with aspect guards.
“If there’s a side guard, they (pedestrians or cyclists) will just bounce out, get bruised a bit. Without a side guard, they’re going to get trapped between the two wheels, and they would get run over,” Chow mentioned.
Retrofitting Toronto’s 500 heavy-duty automobiles would price about $5.7 million, metropolis employees estimate.
Round 219 of the automobiles might be retrofitted by December 2025, whereas the remainder might be finished by the top of 2026, the employees report says.
The security gadgets have turn out to be commonplace in different jurisdictions, such because the EU, and Ontario’s chief coroner has mentioned that they may assist save lives.
There are at the moment no federal or provincial necessities for automobiles to be fitted with aspect guards.
Chow mentioned she has an upcoming assembly with Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and plans to ask him to contemplate making the gadgets a normal for provincial automobiles as nicely.
The report is ready to go earlier than the Infrastructure and Surroundings Committee on Nov. 27. It additionally recommends exploring the feasibility of requiring present and new suppliers who’re contracted to supply metropolis companies to have aspect guards put in on their industrial automobiles. A report on that a part of the plan is predicted to return to council subsequent fall.
