Thank you for the sincere concern for my children’s well-being. I assume that your biggest concern is that they will be hit by a car - what a coincidence, that’s my biggest fear too! https://twitter.com/northernrunner/status/1330606383155306499

I agree that our roads are dangerous for all cyclists, including my children. This is a failure of our city planners, traffic engineers, and politicians for choosing not to separate and protect bike lanes throughout the city.

Drivers also bear a lot of responsibility, since they routinely drive over the speed limit, run red lights, turn right on red without looking, and look at their phones and other distractions while driving.

You know whose fault it is NOT that cars are a danger to cyclists? The cyclists! Since you’re a lawyer, I’m sure you already know this. But if not, this post (from @thebikinglawyer, who also cares about cyclist safety) will refresh your memory: https://www.thebikinglawyer.ca/post/it-s-always-the-car-s-fault

It may also surprise you that we don’t ride our bikes every minute of every day. Sometimes, we walk or even take the TTC! My kids all attend local public schools and can easily walk or take the bus. If the roads aren’t clear (thanks, Toronto!), they often choose not to ride.

But wait! Don’t put away the number for CAS yet! Being a pedestrian in Toronto is more dangerous than being a cyclist. Over the past 10 years, according to https://data.torontopolice.on.ca/pages/fatalities, 56% of traffic fatalities were pedestrians.

That’s 441 victims, of whom 28 were children 19 and younger. You’ll want to report every parent who lets their child walk in the city.

So we should all be driving our kids everywhere, right? Not so fast. 15 children who were passengers in a car were killed in traffic accidents in the last 10 years. Another 8 were young drivers. Better call CAS for any parents who drive their kids or let their teenagers drive.

What about biking? That must be most dangerous of all! It might surprise you to learn that in the past 10 years, there have been just 37 cyclist fatalities, of whom only 5 were children. That’s right, more children have died in cars or on foot than on bikes.

Still, it’s obviously too dangerous to drive, walk, or cycle in Toronto. I guess we had all better stay at home, looking out the window at the snow.

Postscript: every traffic fatality is a terrible loss, and I do not mean to make light of any of them. When election time comes again, please remember which councillors voted for safer infrastructure and cast your vote accordingly.