Open Letter to the Montreal Gazette: Cycling Death on Forden Crescent

The Montreal Gazette reported on the June 16 collision between a south bound cyclist and north bound car at the junction between Forden Crescent and Forden Avenue in Westmount.  This initial report stated that the cyclist was not wearing a helmet, but was expected to recover and that the driver was blinded by sun in his eyes. No follow up by The Gazette was published.

Unfortunately, on June 24, the 29 year old cyclist, a gifted McGill PHD student from Freiburg, Germany died of his injuries.

  The Gazette report gave readers the impression that by not wearing a helmet, the victim was to blame for his serious injuries while the driver was not at fault due to the sun.  The Gazette's reporting on the first cycling death on the Island of Montreal in nearly two years was shamefully inadequate.

   Rather than simply encouraging a blame game between drivers and cyclists, The Gazette should have at least questioned the possible contribution of the street design to the collision, knowing that most collisions can be prevented by safe infrastructure design.  A cursory examination of the site, even on the internet, should have raised alarm-bells – the unusual Y-shaped, narrow and curvy intersection with poor visibility. If Forden Crescent was a south-bound, one-way street, the north-bound car would not have been entering this narrow space in the first place.  This disastrous event was entirely preventable by safe urban design which I hope Westmount will implement ASAP.

We really count on the media to shine light on such events and thereby help build a safer city.  The Gazette's silence on this incident does not serve the city well.

Update:

On July 12, 2020 The Gazette published the following news report.

Cyclists want Westmount to Improve Safety of Bike Paths, Roads