Big Ride to Remember

Toronto cyclists will meet on Sunday November 17, 2013 at Matt Cohen Park at Spadina and Bloor starting at 11:30 AM.  The Ride to Remember will leave at noon and follow an unannounced route through the downtown core.

For more information, watch #biketo on Twitter

or see City of Toronto Cycling on Facebook

 Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1426786387540058

Andy Inkster

andyinkster@gmail.com

(647) 741-6559 (Toronto mobile  – talk or text)
(413) 341-6747 (US line to Canada, talk or text)

Press Release:

For Immediate Release: Toronto’s First Ride to Remember
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – November 17, 2013

The third Sunday in November has been proclaimed by the United Nations since 2005 as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

Toronto cyclists will meet on Sunday November 17, 2013 at Matt Cohen Park at Spadina and Bloor starting at 11:30 AM.  The Ride to Remember will leave at noon and follow an unannounced route through the downtown core.

51 people have been killed in traffic in Toronto in 2013 (current as of Nov 11 2013).  So far this year, the death toll is 16 motorists and passengers, 3 cyclists, and 32 pedestrians. Currently at a five year high, traffic fatalities may surpass 2008’s total of 54 deaths before the end of the year.  The most vulnerable road users in the city are pedestrians, particularly those over the age of sixty-five.

Advocacy and Respect for Cyclists has coordinated memorial rides from this same site to place Ghost Bikes at the site of cycling fatalities, but no other coordinated memorials exist for others.  The Ride to Remember will memorialize all road users killed this year.

2011-2020 has been designated the Decade of Action for Road Safety by the World Health Organization.  The theme for 2013’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is “Let’s have roads that are safe for all.”  This theme highlights the WHO’s call for safer road infrastructure, promotion of the needs of all road users, especially the most vulnerable, and for sustainable urban planning, with road authorities made legally responsible for improving road safety on their networks.

We encourage all road safety stakeholders to promote infrastructure that meets the needs of all users, to share knowledge and to encourage research and development in safer roads and mobility.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1426786387540058

More information:

World Day of Remembrance Website: http://www.worlddayofremembrance.org/

World Health Action Plan: http://www.who.int/roadsafety/decade_of_action/plan/plan_english.pdf

Media Contact: Andy Inkster andyinkster@gmail.com Twitter: @pedalpapa         30           –