Cycling In London’s Extreme Winter
One might ask, in this current extreme winter weather, if cyclists are very hardy, fool-hardy, or both. The extreme weather that has engulfed London, Ontario from mid-January, 2026, means that cyclists are exposed to very trying conditions, and some of these are down-right dangerous.
The numerous cycling lanes that have been created along London’s roads are now mostly covered in deep snow, making them impassable. There are always a few hardy cyclists who are willing to ride regardless of the extreme conditions, but it is a real challenge this season. Cyclist observations conducted by Gorski Consulting show that many cyclists end up walking their bikes on the sidewalk because snow-cover makes it treacherous to ride on the road and there is too much snow covering the sidewalks.
Some roadways in London are especially dangerous for cyclists if they intend to ride in a lane shared by motor vehicle traffic. Major arterial roadways such as Hamilton Road, Highbury Ave, Dundas East, Exeter Road, Adelaide Street, Richmond Street and Oxford Street have no infrastructure to accommodate cyclists and in collisions with motor vehicles the cyclist always loses – sometimes losing their life. It is a danger that is not being publicized, leaving both drivers and cyclists unaware of these dangers.
Extreme Winter Weather Conditions Continue in South-Western Ontario
The poor weather conditions continue in South-Western Ontario at least until February 9th as snow squalls and storm systems, accompanied by usually cold temperatures, reek havoc on roadways. The extreme conditions began on approximately January 14, 2026 and have not let up since. Such a long period of cold and snow are unusual, even for this area which expects to see poor conditions every winter. Many jurisdictions are running out of road salt even though the world’s largest salt mine is located in the region at Goderich, Ontario.
Snow being plowed against roadside barriers has led to several instances of vehicles “flying” over the barriers when out-of-control, leading police to defend the plowing while blaming drivers. Regardless of who is at fault, winter is playing a large role.
Environment Canada was forecasting low temperatures of -25 Celsius for early Sunday morning, February 8th, but the actual low was only about -18 Celsius, making it sound almost balmy. Yet temperatures are forecast for -20 Celsius again for Monday morning. These temperatures are finally expected to moderate for Tuesday, February 10th.
While the number of collisions generally tend to increase in such winter conditions the actual number of serious and fatal collisions is historically reduced. One theory for this is that drivers generally cannot generate enough speed in snowy conditions and the slippery surfaces lead to many fender-bender type events. There are, of course, those instances where a loss-of-control occurs and a vehicle slides into the path of another, sometimes leading to serious or fatal consequences. Poor visibility is also a contributing factor especially on expressways where a traffic slow-down occurs without sufficient warning to oncoming drivers approaching from the rear. This is often a problem with heavy vehicles that either collide with stopped traffic or are rear-ended while slowing or being stopped on an expressway.
After a collision occurs on an expressway the danger does not end there. Persons do not recognize their danger as other vehicles approaching the area become involved in subsequent collisions. There are differing schools of thought as to how to avoid this danger. Some claim that the best approach is to remain in your vehicle which is OK if you can guarantee that your vehicle will not be struck by a high-speed tractor-trailer. Similarly stepping out of your vehicle to look around after your collision can be a recipe for disaster due to the subsequent collisions that often occur. If you step out of your vehicle depart as far away as possible from the roadway and think about how subsequent impacts may project vehicles into where you are standing. There is no all-knowing instruction that can lead you to safety as every collision sequence is unique, but there is some general advice that can improve your chances. If you can, climb over any barrier that separates you from traffic. Try to move upstream from the approaching traffic and try to move as far in a lateral direction away from the lanes of traffic. Being visible, such as wearing proper reflective clothing, or carrying a flash-light or lantern may be of some help but not always when vehicles are colliding in your midst. The bottom line is, think, then react appropriately and quickly.
Police Biased Claims That Drivers Responsible For Flying Over Snow-Covered Roadside Barriers
Police are using official news media in a propaganda scheme to deflect responsibility from municipalities and the Provincial Government of Ontario for failing to properly remove snow that is pushed onto roadside barriers.
Official news media report that at least four cars have flown over barriers of highway in the vicinity of Toronto in the past week. News media then use quotes from police who claim that the reason why these incidents occurred is because of driver error – and nothing to do with the fact that snow was pushed and piled onto roadside barriers, creating a launching pad for any loss-of-control vehicle that is supposed to be protected by the existence of the barriers. News media are used in this occasion as a conduit to publicize the biased reporting by police who are paid by the Province of Ontario and municipalities that are partly responsible for the dangerous safety problems that are created by improper and incomplete snow-plowing operations.
The occurrence of a major snow storm is the blanket used to cover-up the inadequate snow plowing and snow removal. The inability to react to the chaos of such a storm can be understood. But the deflection of responsibility for the chaos by police cannot, and should not be acceptable. Rather than blaming drivers police ought to be asking “When is that snow going be be removed off of that barrier?” It would not require much thought to understand that where these vehicles are being launched is only at the location of a barrier and not along the full length of a highway. And, specifically, there is a greater chance that a vehicle will go out of control on a slippery roadway where there is a horizontal curve. So the magnitude of the problem is not insurmountable: the greatest danger is these specific locations where there is a curve and a barrier. Thus snow plowing does not need to remove snow from every roadside or even from every barrier, but focus needs to be applied at those locations where a curve exists and where this is a greater potential for vehicles to go out of control. Very few drivers understand this distinction. And without being educated on this issue, the police explanation sounds rather plausible.
And this is not a new phenomenon. Safety problems with roadside barriers are a continual problem from various directions, not just from snow-cover and throughout North America. Whenever those safety problems emerge police continually work to deflect responsibility toward drivers and those safety problems are not corrected. Or if they are corrected they are done in secret, on a delayed basis, when the public eye is not watching. And this is not surprising when police are paid by the very entities that they should blame.
Snow Piled On Roadside Barriers Is Dangerous
Two incidents have been reported in the past couple of weeks involving vehicles being projected over roadside barriers because snow had been piled against the barrier. In one instance, photo shown above, the driver was lucky as the vehicle rollover did not proceed down a deep slope, as shown in the next photo.
In this instance police confirmed that there were “icy roads” and the vehicle “struck the snow on the shoulder” indicating that road maintenance was an issue. Police reported that no charges were laid but the maintenance of the roadway was a factor. Would police not charge the persons involved in maintaining the highway? This is where investigative bias sets in. Even with a major snow storm police have an obligation to inquire why and if certain roadway maintenance was not performed.
In a second incident the situation was more dramatic although the video cannot be shown here. A vehicle was passing through the overpass on Highway 427 at Highway 401 in Toronto on February 3, 2026 when it was launched over a snow-covered barrier and flew onto Highway 401 where it struck the top of a passing tractor-trailer. Miraculously injuries were not life-threatening but obviously a fraction of a second could easily have caused two fatalities in the flying vehicle.
CTV News submitted a photo in their article on a third incident, reportedly on an overpass of Highway 8 in Kitchener on January 26, 2026. The photo clearly showed the extensive snow piled on the barrier of the overpass where the vehicle was launched. In the article on the Highway 427 incident police explained the existence for the snow as follows:
“Plows are coming through, clearing the highways, pushing that snow off to the side,” Schmidt said. “In this case, they can’t push it over the wall because it would go onto the highway below, and so it’s pushed up against the edge.”
While this is a problem it cannot be left alone, blaming it on winter weather conditions. Like any maintenance issue the question is, was the action reasonable? Could the snow be pushed further off the overpass and then onto a roadside slope? Such actions may be more time consuming and complicated but their reasonableness needs to be evaluated. It is our experience that this is not the first time that barriers have become compromised in this manner, in a number of previous years, throughout the Province of Ontario.
Many transportation complications occur due to winter weather, as they occur in many seasons resulting in various dangers. Snow piled on roadside barriers makes those barriers ineffective and dangerous. So it needs to be removed as quickly as possible.
Extreme Cold Affecting Transportation in Ontario
Environment Canada has posted the weather conditions for London, Ontario for the dates of January 29 and 30, 2026 as noted below.
The effects of weather conditions like these are compounded by news that municipalities in Ontario are running out of road salt. This creates an additional safety problem. Yet the largest salt mine in the world is located just an hour and a half drive north of London at Goderich, Ontario, News media are reporting that long lines of dump trucks are waiting for hours near the Goderich mine to load up on salt.
Without road salt many streets in London are looking like they did many decades ago when road salt was not rigorously applied, as shown in the example below, taken on a local street in London on January 28, 2026.
While grand plans have been discussed by many politicians that they are working on increasing the active transportation modes of cycling and walking, the reality in these past two winters in that walking and cycling are extremely difficult when such snow and low temperatures exist.
Overall extreme winter conditions have an affect on road safety. Because of poor traction many drivers are involved in loss-of-control collisions or rear-end impacts. Many of these incidents are minor in severity but some are not. The City of Toronto has seen a rise in the number of pedestrians being injured and killed and these incidents are also likely affected by the weather. Movement in all these extremes is difficult and it relies on everyone to pay particular attention to what they are doing.
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