Toronto moving to install side guards on its heavy trucks to reduce pedestrian and cyclist deaths

Toronto is looking to retrofit its heavy-duty vehicles with side guards in an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths.

The protective railings or bars can be mounted on the sides of large trucks between the axles to help prevent people from being pulled under the wheels in a collision.

Mayor Olivia Chow said having them on city vehicles “means saving lives. It means less tragedy. It means safety.”

According to city staff, side guards can reduce cyclist fatalities by approximately 62 per cent and pedestrian fatalities by 20 per cent.

Standing in front of a vehicle outfitted with side guards Wednesday, Chow recalled a promise she made to the husband and child of Jenna Morrison – a 38-year-old yoga instructor who was fatally struck by a transport truck while cycling back in 2011 – back when she was an MP.

“I promised her husband at the time that I would do something to make sure that this doesn't happen again to other people,” Chow said.

She said she has championed the change for years, but has hit roadblocks, particularly around the trucking industry, which she said has resisted efforts to make the guards mandatory.  

A report coming before the city’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee next week is recommending that the city retrofit all city-owned commercial vehicles with side guards.

“If there's a side guard, they (pedestrians or cyclists) will just bounce out, get bruised a bit. Without a side guard, they're going to get trapped between the two wheels, and they would get run over,” Chow said.

Retrofitting Toronto’s 500 heavy-duty vehicles would cost about $5.7 million, city staff estimate.

Around 219 of the vehicles could be retrofitted by December 2025, while the rest could be done by the end of 2026, the staff report says.

The safety devices have become standard in other jurisdictions, such as the EU, and Ontario’s chief coroner has said that they could help save lives.

There are currently no federal or provincial requirements for vehicles to be fitted with side guards.

Chow said she has an upcoming meeting with Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and plans to ask him to consider making the devices a standard for provincial vehicles as well.

The report is set to go before the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on Nov. 27. It also recommends exploring the feasibility of requiring existing and new suppliers who are contracted to provide city services to have side guards installed on their commercial vehicles. A report on that part of the plan is expected to come to council next fall.