UPDATE Quebec town seeks to ban winter cycling after Serge Venne killed by tractor trailer in Quebec

City officials in La Tuque will be urging police to enforce a little-known municipal bylaw that forbids cycling on icy or snowy streets after a cyclist was run over by a truck and killed there last week.

Instead of banning cyclists, how about the Quebec government do more and listen to a mother who has petitioned them relentlessly about improving the safety of trucks and preventing pedestrians, cyclists and motorists from coming into contact with the wheels of ANY commercial or transport truck?

Serge Venne, 45, was cycling in downtown La Tuque, situated about 300 kilometres northeast of Montreal, on the evening of January 6th when a flatbed truck drove past him. The truck, designed to transport lumber, had hooks protruding from it (how safe is that?!). The truck had moved over to give the cyclist room as it was passing, but when it swerved back to regain the lane, one of the hooks on the truck somehow snagged the cyclist and pulled him down and under the truck’s wheels, according to Constable Pierre Rivard of the Mauricie-Centre detachment of the Sûreté du Québec.

Jeannette Holman Price of the Jessica Campaign presented in Ottawa in November to ask that sideguards and under guards be made mandatory on all tractor trailer units, commercial trucks and snow-clearing trucks after the death of her daughter, Jessica, in 2006.
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Sideguards have proven to be effective in preventing vehicles from becoming trapped under and/or coming into contact with trailer units similar to what happened in this crash. They also prevent pedestrians and cyclists from being thrown under the wheels and crushed.

If under guards had been installed on the sides of this trailer unit in this tragedy, it's a high probability the cyclist would have survived.

Please help in the fight for sideguards and under guards for commercial trucks and trailers. Click here to send a pre-written letter of support to Ottawa demanding this change.

The driver continued on his way, apparently unaware that he had run over the cyclist, Rivard said. He was stopped by police at a truck stop a few kilometres from the site.

Rivard said ice or snow did not seem to have played a role in the incident.

But elected officials at La Tuque city hall say they will be urging police to enforce the no-winter-cycling bylaw, which has been on the books since 1988, said La Tuque city clerk Jean-Sébastien Poirier.

“Should the bylaw be updated? Time will tell, but for now the city council considers it inappropriate to cycle on streets that are icy or snowy.”

He acknowledged that cycling improves physical fitness and is a non-polluting form of transportation, but he said bicycles are not well-adapted to winter conditions.

“No one is against fitness or the environment, but we also have to consider the safety of the cyclists and the other people who use the roads.”

He said he had not been given details of the incident and did not know whether snow or ice had been factors.

Rivard could not say whether any other municipalities in the region had such a bylaw, nor whether anyone had ever been fined for winter cycling in La Tuque.

Quebec’s cycling lobby group reacted with outrage to the move by La Tuque to urge fines for winter cyclists.

“It’s very worrying for a city to have this type of bylaw,” said Vélo Québec’s Patrick Howe.

“If a cyclist is killed in the summer, will La Tuque adopt a bylaw to outlaw cycling altogether?” Howe asked, adding that snowmobiling accidents result in several deaths in the La Tuque area every year, and yet it is not banned.

He said certain weather conditions, such as freezing rain, can make winter cycling dangerous, and cyclists should use their judgment about when it’s safe to ride.

City of Montreal spokesperson Darren Becker said Montreal has no bylaw restricting cycling in winter and no intention of following La Tuque’s lead.

“In fact, Montreal has a pilot project in place to clear 30 of its 400 kilometres of bike routes to ensure that winter cycling can be as safe as possible.”

He stressed that the bike routes are only cleared after clearing of streets, sidewalks and access to schools, hospitals and daycares is completed.

* * * ORIGINAL POST 08 JAN 09
QUEBEC -- A cyclist suffered fatal injuries in a collision with a commercial truck on a road in La Tuque.

The incident happened after the dinner hour on January 6th, 2008.

The cyclist was riding on Saint Francis near the intersection of Highway 155 when he was struck.

The Surete de Quebec has launched an investigation into the death because the driver of the tractor trailer kept driving after the man was hit, leaving him fatally injured but police are not calling the tragedy a hit and run. The driver of the big rig admitted he didn't know he had hit the cyclist because he had not seen him.

The victim is reported to be 45 years old. No names have been released.