Pregnant Cyclist Dies After Being Hit by a Truck at Toronto Intersection

Toronto Cyclist Killed by Truck Was 5 Months Pregnant With Second Child

For those of you who haven't heard about the news, Jenna Morrison was struck two days ago.

First of all, my condolences goes to all those who have been affected by the event, especially to loved ones and family. Not only was a fellow biker killed, but an unborn child.

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No, this doesn't call for humour. 

I do find it mind-boggling how people continuously either blame the cyclist or the driver, based on bias. Meaning, because all drivers are bad, so it's the trucker's fault, or because all cyclist are insane, it's the cyclist's fault. 

We can't label someone guilty until we get evidence. 

Sometimes, it can be an honest mistake on both parts, not a case of one group having evil intentions. 

It's possible that Ms. Morrison thought that the trucker noticed her, if he happened to stop for pedestrians crossing the street, but at the same time, didn't notice her. Again, it's difficult to know until there is more evidence. 

From the National Post: “Const. Smith noted that the truck did not have a convex mirror on the passenger side, and therefore may not have been able to see her. Similarly, the cyclist may not have been aware of the amount of space around her, he said.”

So far, I haven't found a law that would directly blame the biker, except for the possibility of "Improper Right Turn" or "Turn - not in safety". Sgt. Winter (traffic services) noted that she seemed to have been following the law.  

We do know that they both were making a right turn at the same time.

This brings up several questions about the situation:

Was the light red? If it was, it's possible that Ms. Morrison was already beside the truck at the intersection, and the driver had no idea she was there when they both were trying to take a right turn. 

Which also brings the question, were they beside each other when traffic was slow, so the trucker didn't know she was still there? 

Was she far behind when the driver made a clear intention to turn (i.e. signalling), and she then happened to come in between the truck and the curb?

Was the driver behind, and happened to pass by to make a right turn? In this case, even a proper mirror wouldn’t have made a difference.

Regardless, the biggest thing that we can do on an individual level is that we learn from this. If we happen to read about this, yet not take precautionary measures to avoid an incident on our part in the future, then we must consider ourselves foolish. Remember though, sometimes, things just go bad.   

If a large vehicle is making a right turn, I usually stop behind it. Regent Park is currently going under a full-scale revitalization, which means there are many trucks and large vehicles passing through. When I was coming home from a class yesterday, I passed by a row of at least five trucks in the right lane. I slowed down to make sure the truck at the intersection wasn't signalling for a right turn, otherwise I would have stopped behind it. 

It’s important to note that larger vehicles (buses and trucks) need more space to make a right turn.

What I’m going to try doing from now on is stopping behind large vehicles that are behind the crossing at an intersection. This would be so that in the event the driver forgot to indicate, or makes an on the spot decision to turn, I won’t be in as much danger. If it’s a red light, I’ll proceed with some space between me and the large vehicle until they clear the intersection.

While I might not be thinking sometimes, I'm also trying to get into the mindset of undermining my judgement. This is for safety measures so that, if I ever think I can, let's say, make a right turn while the car is also without getting injured, I'll stop. Similarly, if I think I can overtake a slower biker before the vehicle behind passes by, I'll need to make sure I undermine my judgement so I don't. 

We can make it so that, by law, a bicycle cannot pass a vehicle of a certain size/class that is at the crossover, regardless of intent to turn or not, until the vehicle as passed through.

If the vehicle happens to be approaching the biker from the back, chances are, the driver sees them, so they would not as likely hit them. It’s not a matter of blaming bikers or drivers, it’s a matter of who’s more visible/vulnerable in the situation. Regardless of being in a car or on a bike, chances are, you notice that big truck overshadowing you.

That’s just an idea, not a law I carved in stone.  

What steps would you take in the future to avoid a similar situation? What kind of laws (that make sense) or initiatives would keep from similar situations happening in the future?

Written By: Azam Abowath