Guelph bike advocacy group highlights need for safer roads after cyclist's death

The Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation wants to see more awareness about road safety after a 78-year-old woman was killed after a hit-and-run while riding her bike.

The woman, who has been identified as Susan Bard, was cycling down Victoria Road N. on Sept. 5 when she was hit. The driver left the area and was arrested later that same afternoon. Bard was rushed to a Hamilton hospital in critical condition. On Sept. 9, she died as a result of her injuries, police say.

Bard was a retired nurse and was well-known in Guelph, spending time volunteering in the community with organizations like the Guelph Horticultural Society, the Guelph Hiking Trail Club, and the Guelph Youth Music Centre. 

"She had a heart of gold," the horticultural society said of Bard on their Facebook page.

In 2017, the Guelph Youth Music Centre named her volunteer of the year, saying that "through her tireless volunteer hours, she has managed to turn our fields of weeds into gardens."

Concerns about online comments

In a statement last week, the Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT) said comments made online by some people about Bard's death are out of line.

"There can be a tendency to unjustly place blame on the most vulnerable road users, whether they were walking, cycling, or using another form of active transportation," the release says. "This narrative is not only deeply unfair but also adds unnecessary pain to those who are already suffering."

Mike Darmon is the advocacy chair for GCAT. He says that despite policy efforts being made by the city, "the reality is in Guelph, there's just not a lot of safe cycling infrastructure in place."

"We have great city staff, we've got great plans to improve it, but of course budget crunches and everything else going on, it's going to take a long, long time before we get that safe infrastructure," he said.

Darmon said that in the meantime, drivers can be more aware of how they share the road and really think about how fast they're travelling.

"We know, for instance, that the result of an accident at 30 km/h for fatality is way lower than say even 40 km/h," he said. "So even that slight difference in speed can make the difference between somebody surviving a car crash or not."

With students returning to school, road construction and fair weather conditions extending the bike-riding season, Darmon says this time of year is becoming more dangerous for active transportation methods.

Ghost Ride

As a way to honour Bard's memory, the GCAT has organized what they're calling a ghost ride for Sept. 28. That night the group will also host the biggest event on their calendar, Bike The Night, which Darmon says typically attracts about 200 riders.

The ghost ride will partner with a Toronto bike advocacy group, who Darmon says have held six other ghost rides this year, and other Guelph-based active transportation groups, like the Guelph Hiking Trail Club.

The ghost ride starts at Guelph city hall at 1 p.m. and will pass by the scene where Bard was hit.