Mayor seeks better safety measures for cyclists after latest Montreal accident
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre called for changes to the Quebec Highway Safety Code after a collision left an 18-year-old cyclist in critical condition on Friday.
The cyclist was struck by a delivery truck on Berri Street before 10 a.m. He appears to have fallen off his bike as he was braking.
The collision comes only a few days after Justine Charland St-Amour, 24, was killed when she was struck by a dump truck while cycling in Rosemont.
Her death prompted the city hall Opposition leader, Projet Montréal's Luc Ferrandez, to accuse Coderre of failing to take measures to protect the city's cyclists.
At a news conference on Friday afternoon, Coderre said he would like to see cyclists be able to cross on the pedestrian light. He also proposed implementing photo radar in areas that are most dangerous.
"The bottom line of everything is a change of culture," Coderre said. "This city has changed because they use bicycles not just for leisure, but as a mode of transportation."
Montreal police have recorded two cyclist deaths so far in 2016. In 2015, there were three deaths and a total of 760 cyclists injured. That's a 16.6 per cent increase over the number of cyclists injured in 2014.
Montreal police Const. André Leclerc said the 18-year-old man who was struck Friday morning was cycling in the southbound lane of the bike path when he fell in front of a small truck.
The truck was turning right into the parking lot of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Leclerc said. He said the cyclist slipped under the truck's wheels.
The cyclist was conscious when he was taken to hospital.
La Cie Électrique Britton, the company that the truck belongs to, said it is co-operating with police.
