2023 Cyclist Observations Provide Important Data On Cyclist Safety In London Ontario
New data is available from close to 1,000 observations of cyclists travelling on, or adjacent to, urban streets in London, Ontario in the year 2023. This is a continuation of similar observations conducted in 2021 and 2022. These data are very different from what is displayed by the City of London from their eco-counters which are embedded at select points along cycling paths, lanes and tracks, Observations along City streets provide a better indication of the safety challenges existing to the average cyclist who often rides where no official cycling infrastructure exists. The increased documentations by Gorski Consulting in the past few years allow for yearly comparisons to be made and for consideration of developing trends.
The table below shows the most recent data from the year 2023, followed by similar tables for the years 2022 and 2021.
Discussion
As can be seen in the above tables female cyclist observations continue to remain low. The percentage of observed females was 12.54 in 2021, 13.11 in 2022 and 14.60 in 2023. While there appears to be a slight creeping upward in these years the best that can be said is that the percentage of observed female cyclists is in the range of 12 to 15 percent.
This data also shows the location of cyclists. Previously we have categorized cyclists with respect to whether they were observed within the travel lanes of a road or whether they were observed on a sidewalk. In the 2021 data we did not note what cyclists were doing at pedestrian crossings of intersections but this was changed in 2022 and 2023 with the addition of two columns: “Riding Thru Ped Crossing” and “Walking Thru Ped Crossing”. These columns were added because it we noted that a substantial number of cyclists were riding on pedestrian crossings and this action is prohibited.
When tallying the numbers of cyclists on the sidewalk we included all observations where cyclists were riding, walking or stopped on a sidewalk. We also included those cyclists in this category who were observed to riding or walking through a pedestrian crossing. It was judged that cyclists within a pedestrian crossing were likely to have originated from a sidewalk so this is the reason for their inclusion.
When tallying the numbers of cyclists on a road we combined those observations where cyclists were riding within a traffic lane along with those that were stopped in a traffic lane. Cyclists observed riding within a designated cycling lane or track were also included in this category of riding on the road.
As can be seen in the above tables we have separated males and females. So in 2021 the percent of cyclists on a sidewalk were: Males = 64.89% and Females = 64.94%. For 2022 the data indicated: Males = 65.25% and Females = 72.59%. And for 2023 the data indicated: Males = 66.79% and Females = 65.22%. While these data show slight differences from year to year those differences are not likely to be meaningful given the size of the samples. However, overall it could be said that about two-thirds of cyclists in London, between the years 2021 and 2023, were observed on a sidewalk versus within a travel lane of a road or cycling lane. Note that Provincial legislation and London bi-laws prohibit cyclists from riding on a sidewalk. So about two-thirds of cyclists have been observed to be disobeying those laws.
We will have more discussion about these observations in future articles on this Gorski Consulting website. Data about helmet use and differences between travel locations will be some of the issues to be discussed.
School Bus Double Fatal Collision Near Brampton Ontario
The public was not served well by both investigating police and the official news media with respect to a recent double fatal collision involving a First Student school bus in the outskirts of Brampton Ontario.
The OPP reported that just before 0800 hours on December 19, 2023, a “passenger vehicle” and school bus collided at an undisclosed location. The use of the term “passenger vehicle” could not be any less informative. The OPP reported that there was one student on the school bus who was not injured. There were five persons in the “passenger vehicle” and one of them was pronounced deceased. In a subsequent update the OPP reported that a second occupant of the “passenger vehicle” also died.
The OPP seemed to work hard at providing as little information about the collision as possible. A photo of the collision site was posted on their Twitter account but this seemed to be arranged so that no useful information could be obtained from it. The photo showed two OPP vehicles at the site, with possibly other police vehicles nearby, but nothing was disclosed about the actual collision evidence.
Official news media began to display photos of the area and from this it could be ascertained that the OPP photo seemed to be taken in a manner to hide indications of the final rest positions of the vehicles as well as the damage to them.
A short video was taken of the accident site by CP24 News from Toronto and this was helpful in providing some basics of the evidence. This video provided an aerial view of the site, either from a helicopter or perhaps a drone. The content of this video cannot be shown on our website because it is copyright. The video would have been instructive and educational if someone with collision reconstruction experience was able to point out important elements from it. But news journalists are not experts in collision reconstruction. So the information reported by news journalists from the video was very basic at best. A journalist interviewed an OPP Sergeant at the site and it was clear that minimal information was going to be reported by the Sergeant. Yet the OPP were focused on requesting any information from dashcam footage that the public might have.
Eventually the official news media reported the location of the collision: on Heart Lake Road which is located on the northern outskirts of the City of Brampton. At no point did anyone provide a cross-reference to determine specifically where on Heart Lake Road the site was located. So it took a little digging by Gorski Consulting to find the actual site. However this points to the obvious issue that neither police nor official news personnel are providing the public with basic and essential information that they ought to have with respect to fatal collisions that are victimizing them.
Using the information contained in the CP24 News video our analysis suggests that the collision occurred on Heart Lake Road, about 420 metres south of the Old School Road. This general area is shown in the Google Maps view shown below.
A closer view of the site is shown below, also taken from Google Maps.
Another Google Maps view is shown below. This is a view looking southward along Heart Lake Road from south of Old School Road.
The news video showed that the SUV had come to rest on the right (west) roadside ditch while the school bus came to rest on the left (east) roadside ditch. Police pilons were positioned on the road indicating that the collision occurred within the paved road and that both vehicles slid to their respective sides of the road. It was apparent that, after impact, both vehicles travelled past the point of impact along similar distances. Nothing was said about the travel directions of the vehicles and so this had to be derived from the evidence.
Some portions of the vehicles were visible in the video, particularly the SUV and damage evidence could be seen along its front end as well as along its left side. The SUV’s windshield contained concentrated areas of fracture particularly at its driver’s side.
Views of the school bus were shown from a distance however it did not exhibit much crush. What damage was visible indicated that it was primarily along the driver’s side of the front end.
The totality of this evidence suggests that the SUV had been travelling southbound and the two vehicles collided in a manner such that there was direct contact damage along the driver’s side of the SUV, and possibly also along the left side of the bus. This is a common happening in head-on collisions. The majority of serious head-on collisions involves an offset where the direct damage is to the driver’s side of the front end. This typically results in counter-clockwise rotation of both vehicles. This rotation was evident in the rest position of the SUV. However the rotation of the bus could not be determined at this time because of the lack of sufficient evidence.
Two occupants of the SUV perished but nothing was said about how and why this occurred. A news reporter announced that, based on his experience, the vehicles had to be travelling very quickly, well above the posted maximum speed of 80 km/h. This is why news reporters should never be trusted to be collision reconstructionists. While the reporter confirmed his understanding that roadways were reported to be slippery in the region the reporter did not seem to think that a vehicle travelling on a downslope on a slippery surface might be factor in the cause of this collision.
By no means was the reporter’s announcement accurate. The available evidence regarding the vehicle speeds would come from examining the speed lost during post-impact trajectories of the vehicles along with a reasonable rate of deceleration. Along with this one must also consider the speed loss from the crush that occurred to both vehicles. A momentum analysis would not work in this co-linear collision and some work would be needed to estimate the change-in-velocity of both vehicles derived from measuring the crush. But even without this basic analysis a collision reconstructionist would be able to tell, just by looking at the basic evidence, that high speeds were not involved in this collision. That is to say, the speeds were within the bounds of what would be expected on a highway signed with a an 80 km/h maximum speed. It is incredible how misinformation can be spread by persons who know very little about collisions and nothing is done to correct that problem.
Modern technology is such that almost all light-duty vehicles are equipped with some form of event data recorder and, in some instances, other forms of evidence capture. Undoubtedly police should have had access to these sources of evidence. Data captured and retrieved from various modules can provide precise information about certain parameters but not all can be known that is needed. Some interpretation of the data is required and, must also be compared to the physical evidence.
This is why a solid grounding in physical evidence must be a component of any reconstructionist’s experience and training. For many years investigators working for federal agencies such as NHTSA and Transport Canada were required to provide vehicle crush data for the narrow purpose of developing estimates of the change-in-velocity (Delta-V) of vehicles in impacts. At no time was it understood that these procedures could be adapted to create further understandings about how collisions occurred. Measuring vehicle crush could go beyond estimating Delta-V and could explore how the shapes of vehicles were changed by the impact. By studying how the shapes of vehicles changed a better understanding could be obtained about what was happening to the vehicles during the time that they were in contact.
With respect to the present collision, if a reconstructionist was familiar with documenting how the shapes of vehicles changed it would be possible to develop a greater understanding of what kind of collision was involved. Evidence about how the vehicles approached each other and how they interacted during the time of contact would allow for a better understanding of what was occurring just before impact. The fact that there appeared to be direct contact along the left side of the SUV would have been an important clue to how the vehicles approached each other just before impact. Without going into too much detail, the presence of direct contact along the left side of the SUV should lead to the question why it existed and why the vehicles did not separate during counter-clockwise rotation before that damage occurred. In our detailed study of many severe head-on collisions the presence or absence of such evidence has been helpful in categorizing and differentiating classes of head-on collisions.
It can be observed that the presence of this direct contact along the left side of a vehicle during a head-on collision is what makes it more dangerous to the occupants of that vehicle, particularly the driver. We have studied this phenomenon for many years without much interest in the reconstruction community. This is often because collision reconstruction has become a police affair with focus on determining vehicle speed and laying charges, rather than focusing on how fatalities can be prevented. As we have mentioned many times before, nothing is learned from these tragedies when those who investigate and report collisions do not understand what they are dealing with.
Gorski Consulting Continues to Document Cyclists in London Ontario
Cyclists can be seen riding throughout the City of London Ontario, either on sidewalks or within the lanes of dangerous roadways. Often no helmets are worn and the cyclists are attired in black clothing while riding in darkness. An example of this is shown below, observed on December 8, 2023 at Wellington and Southdale Roads in London.
Dangerous scenarios continue to exist for cyclists often because they are oblivious to those dangers. Collision consequences can lead to death and that allows for a quick escape for authorities who might otherwise have to do something. But collisions can also lead to permanent injuries that can be life-altering, remaining with the affected person for the rest of their lives while also reminding those around them of the tragic effect of ignoring safety. Those consequences are not highlighted or even mentioned after many serious cyclist collisions. Official entities who claim to support cyclist safety are often to blame for doing the direct opposite.
For a number of years now Gorski Consulting has been involved in the documentation of cyclists riding on or next to the streets of London, Ontario. Many serious safety problems have been observed over the years. No one else appears to be conducting such documentation. The City of London performs some study of cyclists by counting their numbers as they pass over counters imbedded at various locations of cycling facilities. Yet there is no documentation of cyclists outside of these counters. Unfortunately the counters are blind to the characteristics of the cyclists and their actions. While some video cameras are positioned at intersections of the City of London, actions of cyclists outside of these areas are not monitored. And none of this data is ever made available to the average citizen, especially cyclists who could benefit from it. Only Gorski Consulting provides such data free of charge to whoever might be interested.
Gorski Consulting will soon be finished (in a couple of weeks) with the documentations of cyclists for the year 2023. Based on last year, we are able to capture about 1,000 cyclists per year and 2023 appears to be falling in line with those numbers. Unfortunately there was a one-month period between the latter part of June and the first part of July where these documentations could not be made. Through the years of 2021, 2022 and 2023 we will have documented in the neighbourhood of 2500 cyclists. This does not include the many observations made from specialized studies. Some of those specialized studies included the following:
Grosvenor at Gibbons Park (2022)
Dundas at Ontario Street (2021)
Gibbons Park at Vitoria Street (2021)
Thames Valley Parkway – 3 locations (2021)
Thames Valley Parkway at Trafalgar Street (2021)
Dundas at Colborne Street (2021, 2022, 2023)
Talbot at Ann Street (2022)
Colborne at St James (2022, 2023)
Blackfriars Bridge at Ridout (2022)
And many other studies have been made in the London area prior to the year 2021.
Much can be gained and learned from these studies and we endeavor, when time and expense permits, to summarize the results and post them on this Gorski Consulting website.
Cyclist Struck by London City Police Cruiser
Nothing can be reported, because there is no information given, with respect to a collision between a cyclist and a London City Police cruiser that reportedly occurred at approximately 1630 hours on York Street near William Street in London. The collision occurred on Thursday, December 7, 2023 and the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was contacted because the cyclist sustained serious injuries. Yet the cyclist was then released from hospital a short time later. The SIU has reportedly begun its investigation.
Interestingly, news media did not even report which direction the involved vehicles were travelling, or where, precisely, the collision occurred. York Street was reportedly closed for 12 hours between William Street and Adelaide Street, which seems to be a long time considering the type of minimal collision evidence that should have been expected.
The photo below was taken in the earlier afternoon of December 8, 2023, or less than 24-hours after the reported collision. It is looking eastward along York Street just east of William Street. There was an area of evidence (in the area shown by the orange circle) made up of small pieces of fractured, clear mirror and some broken plastic parts. All very minor. Such minor evidence would be typical of what one might find in a cyclist collision. However this evidence could be totally unrelated. The collision could have occurred anywhere as far as the Adelaide Street overpass in the background, and/or it might have occurred in the other (westbound) lanes of York Street.
Consistent with previous history, nothing is likely to be reported in the future that could help both motor vehicle drivers and cyclists in avoiding collisions. Only a week earlier, another cyclist collision occurred in London on Wharncliffe Road south of Riverside and no information was provided with respect to the travel directions of the cyclist and the impacting motor vehicle. The Wharncliffe Street site and the York Street site are similar in that both are four-lane roadways with no infrastructure to accommodate cyclists. No discussion is likely to evolve from this fact.
UPDATE: January 9, 2024; 2015 Hours
Looking back in our photo records the photo below was taken on September 13, 2023, or about 2 months before this collision. The view is rather zoomed in and exaggerates the extent of the change-in-direction of the eastbound lane of York Street just east of William. Never-the-less it provides some indication that, when a roadway is not straight, both cyclists and motor vehicles can stray out of their expected positions in the lane and this can be another factor that leads to a cyclist collision.
Second Incident of Driver Drowning at Cherry St Bridge at Toronto Harbour
No one has noted that there have been two fatal, drowning collisions at the Cherry Street Bridge in the past seven years. When a drowning occurred on December 2, 2023 no one mentioned that this is not the first incident. How quickly we forget.
On October 27, 2016 a northbound Toyota passenger car crashed through the metal railing of the Cherry Street Bridge and the vehicle entered the water. At the time on one questioned whether this was a reasonable occurrence. The 54-year-old female driver could not be retrieved in time and she drowned.
At the time police indicated that they had video of the vehicle just before the crash.
“Video recovered after a car smashed through a guardrail and plunged into Lake Ontario late Thursday afternoon suggests the vehicle was travelling at a high rate of speed in the moments before impact. In the video, the silver Toyota Corolla is captured heading north on Cherry Street at what appears to be much faster than its 50 km/h speed limit.“
Yet the results of any analysis of the video were never provided. When the vehicle was pulled from the water it could be seen that a moderate amount of frontal crush was visible, certainly not the type of crush that would conclusively indicate a high impact speed.
Fast forward seven years and we have another fatal drowning collision at the same bridge. This time a vehicle was travelling southbound. The vehicle crashed through the railing of the bridge in a similar manner to what occurred seven years earlier. Once again police indicated that the vehicle was travelling at a high rate of speed, even though they had not yet recovered the vehicle which was still at the bottom of the harbour. There was no indication that police obtained video of the vehicle on approach to the crash so how did they know about the vehicle’s speed? Nothing further was mentioned by official news media about the recovery of the vehicle and its drowned driver. And the general public was accepting of this as there were so many other stories, including the search for an escaped kangaroo in the Toronto area, that seemed to be more important.
If photos were allowed to be shown of the status of the bridge railing at the time of both drownings there would have been some concern. A Googlemaps view of the bridge railing (shown above) clearly shows that it was aged, at best, in the preceding months before the last fatality. No one has questioned why, after the first fatality, nothing was done to strengthen the railing so that another drowning would be less likely. And it took seven years of non-action before the second fatality occurred.
The strengthening of the bridge railing was not rocket-science. All it would have required was to attach a horizontal beam running along the railing that could be tied to the length of the railing. This beam could have provided the additional strength to the railing system much like the long lengths of guardrail that gain their strength from their long length. Again, not rocket-science, just apathy.
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