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Laws must be 'drastically changed' to prevent more deaths on the road: GTA ghost bike creator

Life-long Toronto resident and long-time cyclist Geoff Bercarich has created more than 100 ghost bike memorials for cyclists killed in the GTHA over the last 20 years. (Joanna Lavoie/CP24) Life-long Toronto resident and long-time cyclist Geoff Bercarich has created more than 100 ghost bike memorials for cyclists killed in the GTHA over the last 20 years. (Joanna Lavoie/CP24)
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West Toronto resident Geoff Bercarich longs to see the day when he will no longer need to prepare “ghost bike” installations for cyclists killed on streets in southwestern Ontario.

For the last 20 years, the long-time cyclist and safe cycling advocate has devoted countless hours of his time creating more than 100 memorials, which are assembled with parts gleaned from donated or disused bikes that are then painted white and are usually decorated with silk flowers.

Ghost bikes are typically chained to a pole or sign near where a cyclist lost their life about a week after a tragedy. When possible, the family of the victim is involved and supports this moving tribute, which is usually accompanied by a memorial bike ride and a small ceremony.

They also serve as a way for the community to come together and remember that no cyclist rides alone, Bercarich said, adding that they’re also an ongoing reminder of the need for everyone to advocate for safer streets for vulnerable road users.

“It’s extremely sad. I don’t want to do this, but it’s the only thing I can do,” he said during an interview outside his west-end home and workshop.

“At the end of the day, it’s somebody’s life and that needs to be cherished.”

Bercarich, who founded Bike Pirates DYI cycle-repair shop, said that he’s prepared anywhere from three to six ghost bikes each year for the last two decades in honour of cyclists who have been killed or died throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. 

In 2021, he also created a special ghost wheelchair for a woman killed by the driver of a dump truck in Toronto's downtown east area.

Many of the victims and their loved ones that he’s met or paid tribute to over the years have deeply impacted his life, he shared during a Monday morning interview with CP24.com.

Cyclist Ali Sezgin Armagan with his three-month old niece. Armagan died on April 30 after been struck by a driver in Toronto's Yorkville area. (Supplied photo)

This past weekend, Bercarich readied yet another ghost bike for Toronto’s latest road violence victim, a 39-year-old man who was remembered on Tuesday evening with a large bike ride and ceremony near the spot in Yorkville where he was hit and killed a week ago.

Advocacy for Respect for Cyclist (ARC), of which he is a volunteer, organized the gathering.

Identified by his family to ARC as Ali Sezgin Armagan, the victim came to Canada last August, Bercarich said. Sezgin, as he was known, worked as an Uber e-bike driver to help support his father back in Turkiye. He is the fourth cyclist to die after being struck by a driver in Toronto in 2024.

The proud uncle of an infant niece was on the job last Monday when he was fatally struck by the operator of a commercial flatbed truck. The crash happened shortly after 1 p.m. near a construction site at Avenue Road and Elgin Avenue, just south of Davenport Road.

On Tuesday, the unnamed driver of the motor vehicle, a 52-year-old man, was charged under the Highway Traffic Act with careless driving causing bodily harm or death. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 27.

 

Stronger laws needed for vulnerable road users: advocate

Bercarich, who also has a small home-based bike repair business that helps support his ghost bike efforts, said he expects to ready many more memorials, unless laws are "drastically changed."

“Honestly, it’s just a matter of lowering speed limits and getting the police to enforce them,” he said, adding that Toronto and surrounding municipalities can learn a lot from other bike-friendly places like Finland and Sweden and even Montreal and New York City, which have implemented thoughtful urban design and strengthened laws resulting in safer streets for all road users, especially cyclists and pedestrians.

“We don’t need more bike lanes or cycling superhighways. We just need laws that respect all users of the road and speed limits that are enforced.”

Bercarich said over the years he’s encountered a lot of pushback from both municipalities in the GTHA and even from some in the local cycling community for his ghost bike and cycling advocacy efforts, but said what keeps him going is the dedicated legal professionals and advocates who work tirelessly to push for improved and new laws for vulnerable road users.

On average, Bercarich spends roughly seven hours on the road every day as a bike courier for a major delivery corporation and said that he sees first hand all kinds of dangerous driving behaviours.

And sadly, because of his long-time involvement in the cycling community, he’s often one of the first people to be contacted when a bike rider is involved in a serious collision.

Bercarich said that at this point, it’s not a question of if, but when, another vulnerable road user will be seriously harmed or even killed on the streets.

“It’s a matter of time and probability is always on the death side. I won’t be happy until that probability changes,” he said.

  Life-long Toronto resident and long-time cyclist Geoff Bercarich has created more than 100 ghost bike memorials for cyclists killed in the GTHA over the last 20 years. (Joanna Lavoie/CP24)

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