Cyclist Struck by London City Police Cruiser

by | Dec 10, 2023 | News

No photos are available relating to a collision between a London City Police cruiser and a cyclist that reportedly occurred on Thursday, December 7, 2023 on York Street near William Street in London, Ontario. In keeping with journalistic standards, this dated photo of a London Police cruiser is shown, like in most official news media articles, when news media have no information to report.

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.

This photo was taken on December 8, 2023, looking east on York Street just east of William. It is unknown where the collision occurred. However the curb lane of York Street here is narrow and has no accommodation for cyclist travel. Note the alligator cracking of the pavement next to the concrete gutter which is also in poor condition. Such features can cause a cyclist to change direction. Even slight bends in the lane (such as shown here) can cause the change in lateral position of a cyclist and/or a motor vehicle which can lead to an impact. But there is no information as to what the pre-impact motions were of either the cyclist or the police cruiser.
This view is looking westward along York Street toward the intersection with William Street. No collision evidence was visible in the westbound lanes. It can be noted that this location is just south-east of London’s downtown and, understandably, motor vehicle traffic volumes are higher. The City’s Men’s Mission building is located about a block to the west and many displaced persons, often riding bicycles, exist in the area. So this area is a potential hot spot for cyclist collisions.

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.

This is view, looking east on York Street from William Street. This view was taken on September 13, 2023 or about 2 months before the collision between the police cruiser and cyclist. The view is rather zoomed in so that it exaggerates the extent of the change in direction of the eastbound lane. Never-the-less it points to the fact that when a roadway does not travel straight ahead cyclists and drivers of motor vehicles can stray out of their normal positions and thus contact each other. It is not known whether is road alignment had anything to do with the actual collision.