In the late afternoon on the 29th of April, Delta resident, and cyclist Ewan Pardew was cycling home from work, as he does every day; however, on this particular day, he was rear-ended by a truck. The inattentive driver of the vehicle was later found to be using his mobile device while driving and not fully aware of what was happening on the road.
The city of Delta is yet to comment on the matter, although it is worth noting that Delta has proposed plans for action in the near future regarding cycling lanes on the city’s streets. Whether or not this will come into play is a good question, only time will tell.
Key witness Seva McCarthy was flying his drone in the area when the accident occurred and happened to capture the incident on camera. “I’m not shocked that this happened” said McCarthy, “these accidents are frequent in this area and if they don’t result in any fatal injuries, I’m sure those who are involved are left with implications for a long time”. The footage was later submitted to Delta police to examine.
Statistics Canada released information in 2019 stating that 16% of all fatalities happen between 4pm and 8pm. Although Pardew was fortunate to escape with no life-threatening injuries medical professionals expect he won’t be able to return to work for several months.
Pardew stated that he usually feels comfortable as he is a quick rider and competent cyclist, and that he is usually aware of what vehicles are doing around him on the road. With Delta’s lack of cyclist friendly roads, it’s only a matter of time before these accidents become more abundant.
In a recent article published in the journal Transportation Research, authors Thorslund and Lindström (2020) found that faster cyclists are noted as stopping more in a position to the right of a vehicle on the road, while slower cyclists were more to the left of a vehicle.
This begs the question of whether or not Pardew is a self-proclaimed quick cyclist or possibly slow and a hazard to vehicle traffic. If he was quick as he says, he potentially could have been out of the way and near the shoulder of the road.
Police are yet to identify the driver of the vehicle, however witness McCarthy said, “he was a young guy”.
According to ICBC in 2018 there were 1100 injured cyclist incidents in the lower mainland. With more cars hitting the road each year this number is only expected to increase if the infrastructure is not going to be upgraded to meet the needs of both types of commuters.
Delta police are set to continue the investigation into the driver of the vehicle and encourage others to follow laws set in place so that incidents like this can be avoided.
Police also stated that the driver could face a penalty up to $600 as well as having to complete the Driver Improvement Program through ICBC.
Pardew encourages other cyclists to be weary of their surroundings while commuting and always ensure that they wear appropriate safety equipment.
“I hope the city gets it together soon, there’s no reason why things like this should happen, and it could be easily avoided if they provided the solution” Pardew said from his hospital bed.
With all this in mind it should be a wakeup call to city officials as well as the general public.
References
Statistics Canada. (2019, July 31). Circumstances surrounding cycling fatalities in Canada, 2006 to 2017. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00009-eng.htm
Thorslund, B., & Lindström, A. (2020). Cyclist strategies and behavior at intersections. Conscious and un-conscious strategies regarding positioning. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behavior, 70, 149-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2020.02.013
