Cyclists, Pedestrians and Concrete Trucks – There’s a conflict in Canadian Cities

November 30, 2021, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Canadian Cycling Magazine, CBC News, and others have been reporting on something that we know. Too many collisions are happening in Canadian urban centres between cyclists pedestrians, and vehicles. In this case specifically bikes and concrete trucks.

The construction boom of condos in urban areas has resulted in a huge increase in construction traffic. These heavy vehicles are not well suited to busy urban centres and have been involved in several fatal collisions with pedestrians and cyclists. Lines of cement trucks and other large vehicles can often be seen queuing up to access the construction sites.

What kind of accidents have happened?

In the last few months, cement trucks have killed a 67-year-old female pedestrian, T-boned a streetcar, and struck and killed a cyclist while the truck turned right. There are several more fatalities and countless near-collisions.

What can be done to protect people?

Advocates for active transportation (cycling and walking) are suggesting that there should be a ban on such large vehicles. Given the pace of development banning these large trucks is not practical or possible however better training for the drivers may be one way of keeping people safe.
The hashtag #tainconcretetuckdrivers was being used to highlight this very issue. At the moment a DZ licence is required to operate a cement truck but no other special driving instruction is required.
Concrete truck drivers are under pressure. They must be offloading their concrete within 90 minutes of loading at the quarry otherwise their load is not useable for construction, and it will be rejected at the site. A considerable amount of concrete is rejected in Ontario annually. There are incentives for them to travel fast, and they may be distracted by this pressure when arriving on-site in urban areas.

Even at slow speeds the likelihood of a cyclist or pedestrian surviving a collision with a dump truck is very low, and the trucks are large enough that they may not even be aware of hitting someone.
More thought needs to be given to how these trucks are licensed, and how they are operated in busy urban centres.

What should you do if you or a loved one are hit by any vehicle?

If you’ve been injured in a collision while walking or cycling on the road, you should contact our experienced personal injury lawyers. You may be eligible for accident benefits, and we can help you secure them.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.