Requiring side guards on trucks in Vancouver could save lives, councillors say
Two Vancouver councillors are bringing a motion forward that they say could save the lives of cyclists, pedestrians and other "vulnerable road users" in the city.
Last month, 28-year-old Agustin Beltran died after being struck by a truck downtown. Deaths like his are less likely when trucks have side guards, according to Couns. Christine Boyle and Rebecca Bligh.
Their motion coming to council notes that photos from the scene of that fatal collision show the bike "fully underneath the truck, which did not have side guards."
The safety feature, also known as a "lateral protection device" basically serves to cover the space between the front and back wheels of large trucks.
"Side guards have shown to be extremely effective at preventing fatalities and severe injuries because they prevent cyclists and pedestrians from being trapped between the truck’s wheels," the motion reads.
"Municipal action on lateral side guards could prevent tragedies happening in our city in the future."
Jeff Leigh, with HUB Cycling, is in favour of the move, saying Beltran's death shows that side guards can make a critical difference.
"He wasn’t killed from a collision with a truck, he was killed by the truck crushing him after he went underneath it," he tells CTV News.
"This feature on trucks would not have protected this crash from happening. But it has a good probability of stopping him from going underneath the truck … It's the rear wheels that killed him not the impact with the truck."
Side guards have been mandatory in Europe since 1994.
Although mandating the installation of side guards on trucks would fall to the federal government, Boyle and Bligh say Vancouver could follow the lead of cities like Halifax by requiring them on city-owned and city-contracted vehicles.
Boyle estimates there are 400 trucks that would need to be modified, and says she understands the cost would be around $5,000 per vehicle. Using those figures, the cost to the city would be around $2 million.
"Certainly I heard concern after the most recent incident in Vancouver," she says, referring to Beltran's death.
"My hope is people want to move beyond thoughts and prayers and take action. And this is a tangible action that we can and should take."
The councillors are also asking the mayor to write to Canada's transportation minister advocating for "the federal government to make side guards mandatory on large, heavy and semi-trucks in urban areas," the motion reads.
At the provincial level, they are asking the mayor to write to the minister of transportation to urge a change to the requirements for mirrors.
"Large vehicles and trucks with standard mirrors continue to have large blind spots at the front and immediate side of the vehicles where cyclists and pedestrians can be present and vulnerable," the motion says, adding they want the province "to require mirrors covering the front and side blind spots on large, heavy and semi-trucks in urban areas."
The motion comes in front of council next Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.