Memorial ride held for cyclist, 71, killed near Christie Pits

CTV Toronto: Memorial held for struck cyclist A group of cyclists held a memorial ride near Dupont and Christie for a friend who was fatally struck by a vehicle.

A memorial ride was held Tuesday evening in honour of a 71-year-old man who died while trying to avoid a vehicle on July 5.

A group called the Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) hosted the ride at 6 p.m. and placed a ghost bike at the scene of the crash near the Christie Pits neighbourhood. The ride started at Matt Cohen Park at the southeast corner of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue. Cyclists rode to the intersection where the incident occurred, near Christie and Dupont streets.

Although police first said the cyclist was at fault in the deadly collision, investigators later determined the cyclist had the right of way.

Const. Clint Stibbe, who is with Toronto Police Traffic Services Unit, was at the scene of the collision when it occurred.

“A vehicle was attempting to make left hand turn into parking lot. As the driver was waiting to make the left hand turn, the westbound traffic had come to a stop to permit the vehicle to make the turn. The cyclist then came between the vehicles in the left lane and the parked vehicles in the right lane and proceeded through,” he explained.

The cyclist then swerved into a parked car to avoid what he thought would be a collision, Stibbe said. Toronto Paramedics said he was transported to a trauma centre, but was pronounced dead in hospital later the same day.

Stibbe said that smashing into an immoveable object like a parked car is equivalent to hitting a brick wall if the cyclist is travelling at around 30 kilometres per hour.