Annual Toronto memorial walk honours lives lost to road violence
A candlelit procession will make its way along Danforth Avenue Sunday afternoon in honour of those who lost their lives to road violence in Toronto.
The memorial walk, held annually on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, will get underway at 4:45 p.m. Anyone interested in taking part in the event should meet at Victoria Park Station.
The two-kilometre-long walk will conclude around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Danforth Avenue and Birchmount Road, which is where 17-year-old Nadia Mozumder was fatally struck by a driver on October 19, 2021.
“We will honour Nadia’s memory and show that she, like every victim of road violence, is not forgotten,” event organizer Friends and Families for Safe Streets (FFSS), a support and advocacy group working to end traffic violence in Toronto, said in a release.
During the walk, organizers will also point out other locations where road violence destroyed people's lives and discuss how simple infrastructure upgrades could have prevented it.
By sharing our painful stories we can put a face to the crisis of road violence in Toronto, and we demand our leaders prioritize safety over speed and driving convenience. … 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.
Further, the annual event aims to highlight 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,” said FFSS, which is advocating for the passage of the Moving Ontarians Safely Act.
The memorial walk is also an opportunity for people to advocate for improvements to the city’s Vision Zero Road Safety Plan, which has the goal of reducing traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on Toronto's streets.
“This event is for anyone that has experienced senseless loss from road violence, anyone who has been injured by a driver, and anyone who wants to send a message to our leaders that they must act boldly and swiftly to realize Vision Zero,” the group said.
“Together, we advocate for lifesaving Vision Zero changes to stop any other Torontonians from experiencing the preventable anguish that we have endured.”
This year, organizers have chosen to highlight Danforth Avenue as it is “emblematic of so many arterial roads in Toronto’s suburbs that are responsible for a disproportionate number of injuries and fatalities.”
“These are roads that, despite their known danger, our city leaders have failed to redesign with proven safety improvements,” they said, noting the walk also aims to highlight the discrepancy in Vision Zero implementation on Danforth Avenue, east and west of Victoria Park.
On the west side, the road has been transformed into a complete street that prioritizes the safety of people outside of cars, FFSS noted, while to the east of Victoria Park nothing has been done to improve safety, they said.
A virtual candle-lighting ceremony in honour of World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims has also been organized for Monday at 8 p.m. Pre-registration is required.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.