Toronto

Two Toronto councillors want to make it the law for drivers to give cyclists a metre-wide berth.

Councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam and Mike Layton will ask city council next week to request the province implement a one metre (three foot) passing rule for vehicles when passing cyclists.

The member’s motion released Thursday also asks city staff to come back in June with a municipal bylaw to put the rule in place in Toronto until the province takes action.

To make their case, Wong-Tam and Layton point to the Ontario's Chief Coroner's 2012 Cycling Death Review which found more than 26,000 people went to a hospital emergency department in 2009 after being injured while cycling.

The coroner found motorists trying to pass cyclists with “insufficient passing room” was the cause of a majority of cycling deaths reviewed between Jan. 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2010.

Right now, the Ontario Highway Traffic Act doesn’t specify a minimum distance when passing cyclists. The review recommended the one metre safe passing guideline be put in place to ensure “safe passing.”

Wong-Tam said 21 U.S. cities have put a “three-foot rule” in place.

“What you’re seeing now is jurisdictions across North America taking a more proactive approach of trying to make sure that people can share the roads in a responsible way and get everyone home,” Wong-Tam said.“The image of young Jenna Morrison’s bloody bike and the loss of her life and the life of her unborn child is still very vivid in many people’s memory. It was so senseless.”

The Toronto Centre-Rosedale (Ward 27) councillor said most Toronto drivers already know how to share the road “for the most part.”

She said she was optimistic the rule would be enforceable.

“Having the rules there will certainly mean people have to be mindful of it,” Wong-Tam said.

Layton called the recommendation “valid.”

“Most of the accidents that involve cyclists involve a vehicle passing them,” Layton said.

Here’s a rundown of some of the other items councillors could end up debating at city council next week: