Hundreds take part in memorial ride for cyclist killed

Nearly 600 people took part in a bike ride in Toronto on Wednesday in honour of a female cyclist struck and killed last week by a dump truck driver.

The 24-year-old woman was struck on Bloor Street W. near Avenue Road early on July 25.

Toronto police have said the cyclist was westbound on Bloor, then exited the bike lane. She merged into a westbound vehicle lane and was struck by a dump truck driven by a 39-year-old man. Police said she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman's death marks the fifth cyclist fatality in Toronto this year. Her name has not been released.

The cyclists met at a park and biked to the collision site on Bloor Street W. in Yorkville, before holding a moment of silence with their helmets off. A ghost bike was installed and many cyclists were in tears. Some put flowers over the newly installed bike to commemorate the woman's life.

"We are gathered here today to remember a 24-year-old cyclist who was killed here about a week ago," Joey Schwartz, a co-organizer of the ride, told the crowd of cyclists.

"That death should never have happened. This is a protected bike lane. We are gathered here to remember her."

Before the ride, Schwartz said he is calling for accountability.

"This was totally, totally unnecessary. This was an unnecessary death that could have been prevented by simply not having a garbage bin illegally in a bike lane," he said.

Schwartz said construction is "out of hand" on Toronto streets and that cyclists have died because construction is not being kept under control and monitored for safety.

"The most obvious thing is make sure that the bylaw officers are getting out there and actually seeing what's going on, enforcing the current rules that we have."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who attended the gathering at the end of the ride, said she is working to prevent such deaths. 

"As the mayor, I'm doubling my efforts, tripling my efforts — more fines, ticketing those who are parked illegally, enforcing the law and setting up a mobility squad to check whether there are construction sites in all the places where there are a lot of cyclists to make sure they're safe," she said.

No charges have been laid in the death, but police said on Wednesday the investigation is "active and ongoing."