(crossposted on the Eye Weekly blog.)
Tomorrow (Thursday, April 27), memorials will be held for the two cyclists killed April 20th.
The morning memorial will take place at Avenue Rd & Cortleigh Blvd. at approximately 8:30am. A group ride will start from southeast corner of Spadina and Bloor — meet at 7:45am.
The evening memorial will be at Keele and Finch at approximately 8pm. A group ride will depart from Downsview Station at 7:30pm — cyclists should meet at the main pedestrian entrance of Downsview Station. (Those who live downtown will meet at the southeast corner of Spadina and Bloor at 6:45pm and board the subway at 7:00pm to go to Downsview.)
Those attending the memorial are encouraged to bring flowers.
The group Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) has written an open letter to the citizens of Toronto which you can read on their website here. It offers a scathing criticism of the effort city council has taken to improve road safety.
Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
“Twenty two lives have been lost on Toronto streets to motor vehicles so far this year, more lives lost to vehicles than to the so-called gun crisis. A study released in the same week the victims died put driver inattention to blame in 80% of all traffic accidents. Toronto is on course to setting a record kill rate for 2006 and the solution our City Councillors and Mayor have settled on is silence. The victims of Toronto’s war have been predominately innocent bystanders, children and the elderly. Council has made it clear that these lives have no value to them.”
May 17 at 7:00pm, another event called the Ride of Silence will take place in nine countries around the world. These silent, group bike rides will commemorate all cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding. Those interested in participating in Toronto ride should meet at 6:30 at Bloor and Spadina.
