Group plans candle-lit walk for safer streets for all.
Friends and Families for Safe Streets (FFSS) will lead a candle-lit memorial walk along Bloor St W, between Kipling station and Tom Riley Park on November 19.
The annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims highlights the deadly design of Toronto’s streets while showing bereaved families and friends, and crash survivors, that their loved ones and trauma are not forgotten.
The event is for anyone who has experienced senseless loss from road violence, whether they were bereaved or injured, and those who care about road safety and wants to send a message to our leaders that they must act boldly to achieve Vision Zero
Too many pedestrians are being killed by vehicles, they said.
The group is highlighting Bloor Street W. to push back against complaints about the street Extension, and demand further improvements to the rest of Bloor Street W. and to all arterial roads in Toronto.
“Deadly arterial roads have claimed far too many lives because of their high-speed, car-centric designs,” the FFSS said in a release. “The Extension’s critics call for a ‘balanced’ installation, but nothing could be less balanced than demanding that we regress to allocating 100% of space to cars.“
In contrast to their claims that business is down, data shows that complete streets are good for local businesses, in addition to saving lives, the goal of our Vision Zero program.
They plan to end their walk in Tom Riley Park, near the site of the recent horrific hit-and-run killing of Nicole Curtis on April 2023.
Friends and Families for Safe Streets say too many vehicles and dangerous driving are killing pedestrians.
They will honour her memory to show that she, like every victim of road violence, is not forgotten.
“For some brief distances on Kipling and Dundas Street W., grade-separated cycling infrastructure was installed as part of the Six Points Reconfiguration,” FFSS said. “Further east, Bloor goes back to being a deadly arterial until Aberfoyle Cres., the westernmost point of the Complete Street extension.”
The group also plan to highlight the need for Bill 40, the Moving Ontarians Safely Act, to be passed at the Ontario Legislature.
“Road safety should never be a partisan issue, and this law would both protect people outside of cars, and hold reckless drivers accountable for the devastation they cause,” they said.
Members of the group take to the streets on November 19 to highlight their concerns.
“By sharing our painful stories and remembering those who were senselessly killed, we can put a face to the crisis of road violence in Toronto, and continue to demand our leaders prioritize safety over speed and driving convenience,” according to FFSS.
“Toronto’s arterial roads are our most dangerous streets that exact the highest toll of senseless death and severe injury on Toronto residents,” said FFSS spokesperson Jess Spieker. “No other Torontonians should ever experience the anguish and grief from road violence that our members have.”
The World Day of Remembrance Candle-lit Walk takes place on November 19 and starts at Kipling Station and goes from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.