Should Ontario cyclists be allowed to cross on walk signals? Advocates speak out amid fines

Cyclists are speaking out after some were hit with hundreds of dollars in fines for riding through a busy Toronto intersection on pedestrian signals, saying being allowed to cross with those walking is a matter of road safety. 

This week, Toronto police were at the Yonge and Dundas intersection issuing tickets — as high as $325, according to ?Dave Shellnutt, a lawyer for cyclists — to cyclists who proceeded through the intersection on the walk signal. In Ontario, the law requires cyclists to wait for the conventional traffic lights, but at least one province changed that rule in 2019 after a spate of cyclists deaths in motor vehicle collisions.

Now, following in line with Quebec, some cyclists are calling for a similar change in Ontario after 36 collisions involving cyclists last year in Toronto, with the majority resulting in major injuries and three in deaths. 

Despite knowing this province's rules, Toronto cycling advocate Alison Stewart says she regularly crosses early with the pedestrian signals.

"It's much safer. It keeps me in front of car traffic, and gives me the chance to be seen as I cross," said Stewart, director of advocacy and public policy for Cycle Toronto.

"When I do so, I am always very cognizant of looking around to see if there are police on hand, just to make sure that I am not at risk of being targeted," she said.

Cycle Toronto is not advocating for cyclists to break existing laws, she says, but would like to see police use their resources differently and not target people for trying to protect themselves. 

The organization wants to see improvements to the province's Highway Traffic Act that to prioritize pedestrian and cyclist safety, she says.

Stewart says the city has made great strides to improve safety for cycling and should continue to add special signals for cyclists and take other steps to allow cyclists to cross first until a wider sweeping change comes from the province. 

But Dave Shellnutt, managing partner at the Biking Lawyer LLP, says piecemeal solutions from the city aren't the answer.

"All these variations are confusing and costly," he said. 

He says many of the cases he sees as a lawyer for cyclists involve collisions at intersections. Early visibility by allowing cyclists to cross with pedestrians is the clear solution, he says.

"Giving vulnerable road users an advantage at those intersections to sort of ward off sometimes imminent harm is an important thing," he said.

He says police should refrain from what he viewed as "a blitz" against cyclists and believes the public should be informed cyclists crossing with pedestrians is appropriate.