Calls for bike safety in Winnipeg continue after girl hit by vehicle in Wolseley neighbourhood

A Winnipeg mother is calling for change after her young daughter – an avid cyclist – was struck by a vehicle that turned onto the bike lane.

Regan Lenton was riding with her six-year-old daughter Maddy on Sherbrook Street last week when it happened.

“We had a green light,” Lenton recounted. “We were riding single file, my daughter was wearing a brightly coloured helmet, riding a brightly coloured bike. She was doing everything the Highway Traffic Act asks her to do, and she ended up being struck by an inattentive driver who was performing a left turn from Westminster onto Sherbrook.”

Lenton was riding behind her daughter so she could “keep an eye on her,” adding she felt “helpless” watching Maddy get hit.

The six-year-old was able to ride her bike home after the accident, her mom confirms, but she’s now apprehensive “about being on the bike paths.”

Lenton filed a claim with Manitoba Public Insurance, mostly seeking accountability from the driver – either a note on their file or demerit points. While that claim is still being processed, Lenton says she does not expect much to come of it given MPI’s response.

“I spoke to MPI, they will likely be replacing her helmet because that was slightly damaged,” she said. “The way that they explained it to me was, if there was no physical cost for them to reimburse, then the driver would likely not get any points taken off.”

“It is pretty disappointing. … Just from the way that they explained the situation, I’m kind of appalled at how flippantly it’s taken.”

—Regan Lenton, on MPI’s response to her claim

MPI did not respond to CityNews’ request for comment.

“There are so many things that the city and province could be doing to increase safety on the roads,” Lenton said. “MPI could start treating driving as a privilege and not a right.”

She is calling on the City of Winnipeg to implement transportation policies from Vision Zero, which aims to stop all traffic injuries and deaths.

The city says it’s planning to review multi-use paths and cyclist crossings and enhance pedestrian pavement markings. It says cyclist safety is one of five key focus areas in its 2022 Road Safety Strategic Action Plan, and part of the city’s goal to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions by 20 per cent by 2026.

It also described Vision Zero as a “long-term, aspirational concept” that “can only be achieved by taking a systemic approach and integrating efforts amongst a multidisciplinary team of stakeholders,” such as road designers, vehicle manufacturers, policy makers, enforcement agencies, and families.

Vision Zero - Winnipeg by CityNewsToronto on Scribd

Bike advocate Mel Marginet, a member of the sustainable transportation team at Green Action Centre, says it’s time to put words and promises into action.

“A lot of cities have adopted Vision Zero on paper, just sort of like we have our pedestrian and cycling strategies on paper,” Marginet told CityNews. “But if you don’t actually put the funding in place to do the things that need doing, then they’re just documents on a wall that we aspire to be.

READ MORE: Cyclists say Winnipeg police must address ‘traffic violence’ from drivers

“The only thing that’s holding us back here is political will. We have excellent plans, we have excellent strategies, we have countless examples of what municipalities just like us are doing.”

Multiple fatal accidents have happened in Winnipeg recently, including a 61-year-old man killed in a hit and run on June 6. A call for action at the end of July blocked traffic at Wellington Crescent and Academy Road after a teenage girl was hit by a driver.

Marginet believes incidents of drivers hitting cyclists are a common occurrence.

“Those sorts of things happen every day,” she said. “They happen every day, they happen in schools, school zones, on our streets with seniors, and people just don’t know about them.

“How many people are going to have to die on our streets, doing the things that we say we want them to do? Walking, biking, taking transit.”

She says more needs to be done.

“We have to start acting on these things now. It’s not ‘everything is just fine the way it is.’ Things definitely need to change and they need to change fast.”