Transport Canada scraps study of truck side skirts that could protect cyclists

Safety advocates are scratching their heads at word the federal government has scrapped yet another potentially beneficial scientific program.

But this time it appears you can't point the finger directly at the Harper government.

The Globe and Mail reports the National Research Council (NRC) has opted not to go ahead with the second phase of a study into the effectiveness of truck side skirts in reducing cyclist deaths and injuries.

According to documents obtained by the Globe under access-to-information legislation, word came down from Transport Canada last fall that the study would not proceed because there was no other research to show truck skirts would increase safety.

Transport Canada statistics show 60 cyclists died in 2010, the last available year, up from 44 the previous year but down from 75 in 2006 and 66 in 2007. The numbers don't reflect how many resulted from collisions with trucks but the Canadian Automobile Association says 19 per cent of cyclist fatalities resulted from being hit by a heavy truck.

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Side skirts, which are commonly used in Europe, are hung beneath a truck's cargo box or trailer instead of existing protection bars. This Globe graphic shows how the first phase of the NRC study tested various designs in keeping cycles from falling beneath the trailer and under the wheels.

The Globe documents showed Transport Canada's decision flew in the face of results from the initial NRC study that found all three designs tested were effective in keeping bikes from sliding under the truck.

Critics say without going ahead with Phase 2, it's impossible to find out if the lightweight skirts could serve the same safety purpose as the sturdier side-protection bars, the Globe said.

“It’s disappointing that Transport Canada hasn’t moved forward with this [study],” Ontario’s interim chief coroner Dan Cass told the Globe.

NRC engineer Jeff Patten told the Globe via email he believed the agency's side-skirt tests were the first of their kind in the world.

“Although these tests were a critical step in understanding the behaviour of side skirts when impacted by a bicycle, they are but one step in what must be a rigorous multistep process,” Patten said.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Karine Martel told the Globe the decision to cancel the study did not come out of Transport Minister Denis Lebel's office but was made at the scientific and technological level.

“The intention of the proposed investigation was to study whether side skirts might provide ancillary safety benefits for pedestrians and cyclists,” Martel said via email.

“A decision was made not to proceed with the study because the department was unable to find any research indicating that a similar technology, specifically side guards, was effective at improving pedestrian and cyclist safety.”

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But the Globe said a 2010 NRC study done for Transport Canada found side guards reduced deaths in Britain by 61 per cent and injuries by 13 per cent.

“I don’t know what more evidence is needed before one just moves forward to do something which is known to save lives," said Cass.

The Globe said the Canadian Trucking Alliance has opposed mandatory side guards in favour of bike lanes and road-sharing awareness campaigns. But it has encouraged members to install the lighter side skirts as a way of improving aerodynamics to cut fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.