Stretch of Lake Shore Road where boy was killed 'a tragedy waiting to happen,' says safety advocate

A road safety advocate is calling on the city to install more barriers between roadways and bike lanes after a 5-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday while cycling on Lake Shore Boulevard.

David Stark, who co-founded the group Friends and Families for Safe Streets after his wife was killed by a vehicle while standing on a sidewalk, called Wednesday's accident "awful" in an appearance on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

• 5-year-old boy dies after he was struck while riding his bicycle
• City councillor supports safety review of cycling path where boy, 5, was struck and killed

"It triggers a grief reaction," he said. "It's awful to read about these, hear about them, and know these incidents are entirely preventable."

The five-year-old was cycling with an adult near Jameson Avenue just before 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday when his bike shot into traffic and he fell on the road, where he was hit by a Toyota Camry.

He later died in hospital.

Stark described that stretch of the Martin Goodman Trail, which has no barriers between the fast-moving traffic and bike path beyond a few lampposts, as a "tragedy waiting to happen."

"Nobody is to blame here. It's the infrastructure that's the problem," he said, pointing out that an adult cyclist whose tire blew or chain fell off would be equally at risk of falling into traffic.

Stark said the city should act quickly to install temporary barriers along the stretch before replacing them with permanent metal guardrails.

• City holds Vision Zero summit to drive down traffic fatalities

Parkdale-High Park city councillor Gord Perks is also calling for quick action.

After the accident, he wrote in an email to constituents that he had "spoken to City staff who have agreed to urgently look into the possibility of installing additional safety measures" to the stretch where the boy was killed.  

City councillor Mike Layton also said Thursday he would support a safety review of the area.

"I don't know if it's barriers that are the best thing or if there's another option, but we do need to look at safety along that corridor," Layton had said.

Near the end of his interview on Friday, Stark called on Metro Morning's audience to tweet out other places in the city where cyclists would benefit from barriers, explaining that he hopes preventative action can be taken to avoid future deaths.