Editors’ Note: 120 physicians and researchers from the University of Toronto are signatories to this letter to Doug Ford.

As physicians and researchers from the University of Toronto who practice in emergency medicine, trauma, surgery, anesthesiology, intensive care, rehabilitation, psychiatry, pediatrics and family medicine, we bear witness to the trauma inflicted on pedestrians, cyclists and the drivers of motor vehicles due to traffic-related injuries – the majority of which are preventable.

In Canada during 2022, 294 pedestrians, 46 cyclists, 258 motorcyclists, 316 passengers, and 952 drivers died in collisions. There were 8,851 serious injuries from collisions, including pedestrians (15 per cent), cyclists (5 per cent), motorcyclists (13 per cent), passengers (17 per cent) and drivers (47 per cent). As of Oct. 9 this year in Toronto, 16 pedestrians, six cyclists, three motorcyclists and 10 motorists have been killed by traffic-related trauma. Every fatality is the loss of a person, someone who loved and was loved.

Among survivors, the horrific consequences of motor vehicles hitting pedestrians, cyclists and people in other vehicles are difficult to imagine. Brain injuries that fundamentally change personalities, memories and cognition; torn spinal cords that commit people to lifelong ventilatory support; scars from surgeries; post-traumatic stress disorder from both the trauma and the care required to help people survive. These patients spend weeks and months in hospital, and often never return to work or school.

The victims are not just the patients who arrive in our hospitals’ trauma bay, but the families and caregivers who experience burnout and depression. Surviving drivers involved in fatal collisions are also haunted by their experience, many suffering from life-long regret and psychological torment (Maryann Gray spent her life advocating for people who accidentally killed others). Not only can these devastating injuries destroy lives, the costs for this care, and the opportunity-costs of lost productivity, are borne by society.

Most agonizing is that the vast majority of traffic-related fatalities – pedestrian and cyclist especially – are preventable. Research from many jurisdictions, including Toronto, shows that protected bicycle lanes reduce the risk of motor vehicle trauma for pedestrians and cyclists. A recent position statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society strongly endorses protected bike lanes as a way to protect children, the most vulnerable road users. Public health data can identify high-risk areas. Reductions in speed that result from changes to road design also improve safety for motorists. Bicycle lanes benefit all road users, and it is much preferable to prevent motor vehicle trauma than to try to treat it.

For this reason, we strongly oppose the recent proposed Ontario legislation, Bill 212, that limits the ability for municipalities and cities to make their roads safer for their citizens. The legislation requires that municipalities seek Ministry of Transportation approval before installing cycling lanes that reduce the number of lanes available for motor vehicles. The legislation states that the ministry will base its decision on whether to approve a bicycle lane on “whether it would unduly diminish the orderly movement of motor vehicle traffic”, without any mention of safety for road users.

The Ministry of Transportation is responsible for serving the people of Ontario, not its motor vehicles. We must address the root causes of traffic congestion and provide options for solutions, such as improved transit connectivity and reliability, incentives for choosing alternatives to motor vehicle travel, and support for complete streets that offer safe and efficient transportation options for all people.

Legislation proposing to guide road design decisions, such as Bill 212, should explicitly place a higher priority on road safety than motor vehicle travel times. We oppose the proposed legislation as currently written and remain available should the government seek broader input from stakeholders of road traffic trauma – us and others – who aim to help improve traffic safety for everyone in Ontario.

Signed (in alphabetical order),

1. Dr. Neill Adhikari
2. Dr. Najma Ahmed
3. Dr. Maha Al Mandhari
4. Dr. K. D. Alexopoulos
5. Dr Kavita Algu
6. Dr. Jillian Alston
7. Dr Rufaro Asefa
8. Dr. Imad Awad
9. Dr Jillian Baker
10. Dr. Iwona Baran
11. Dr. Michaela Beder
12. Dr. Jackie Bellaire
13. Dr. Suzanne Beno
14. Dr. Blair Bigham
15. Dr. Gary Bloch
16. Dr. Thomas Bodley
17. Dr. Michael Bravo
18. Dr. Corey Bricks
19. Dr. Laurent Brochard
20. Dr. Dylan Bould
21. Dr. Nikki Bozinoff
22. Dr. Natalie Butler
23. Dr. Alice Cavanagh
24. Dr. Eileen Cheung
25. Dr. Arianne Cohen
26. Dr. Eleanore Colledge
27. Dr. Christopher J Coutinho
28. Dr. Matthew Cruickshank
29. Dr. Adrienne Davis
30. Dr. Deric Diep
31. Dr. Michael Dinsmore
32. Dr. Katie Dorman
33. Dr. Naheed Dosani
34. Dr. Dallas Duncan
35. Dr. Gina Eom
36. Dr. Joseph Fiorellino
37. Dr. Rob Fowler
38. Dr. Gabrielle Freire
39. Dr. Amy Gajaria
40. Dr. Ritika Goel
41. Dr. Samantha Green
42. Dr. Sahil Gupta
43. Dr. Barbara Haas
44. Dr. Mona Haider
45. Dr. Mika Hamilton
46. Dr. Gregory Harvey
47. Dr. Kate Hayman
48. Dr. Margaret Herridge
49. Dr. Christopher Hicks
50. Dr. Paige Homme
51. Dr. Alex Huang
52. Dr. Jennifer Hulme
53. Dr. Emma Jeavons
54. Dr. Daisy T Joo
55. Dr. Chris Kandel
56. Dr. Neha Kanga
57. Dr. Liana Kaufman
58. Dr. Michael Kahn
59. Dr. Jonathan Kong
60. Dr. Karim Ladha
61. Dr. Kevin Lam
62. Dr. Kate Lazier
63. Dr. KitShan Lee
64. Dr. Michael Lee
65. Dr. Mark Levine
66. Dr. Sean Leung
67. Dr. Sarah Levitt
68. Dr. Winny Li
69. Dr. Ken Lin
70. Dr. Martin Ma
71. Dr. Kristin Malcolm
72. Dr. Selene Martinez
73. Dr. Azad Mashari
74. Dr. Lianne McLean
75. Dr. Marc McVey
76. Dr. John Mikhaeil
77. Dr. David Ng
78. Dr. Jessica Nguyen
79. Dr. Ahtsham Niazi
80. Dr. Valerie Palda
81. Dr. Judith Peranson
82. Dr. Ian Randall
83. Dr. Danyaal Raza
84. Dr. Vanessa Redditt
85. Dr. Joao Rezende Neto
86. Dr. Andrea Rigamonti
87. Dr. Genevieve Rochon-Terry
88. Dr. Luciana Rodriguez Guerineau
89. Dr. Claire Rollans
90. Dr. Daniel Rosenfield
91. Dr. Daniel Rosenbaum
92. Dr. Peter Sakuls
93. Dr. Ashwin Sankar
94. Dr. Annia Schreiber
95. Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah
96. Dr. Rami Shoucri
97. Dr. Suzanne Shoush
98. Dr. Isaac Siemens
99. Dr. GL Silverman
100. Dr. Jordan Silverman
101. Dr. Marietjie Slabber
102. Dr. Mayson Sousa
103. Dr. Tomislav Svoboda
104. Dr. Michael Szpejda
105. Brandy Tanenbaum
106. Dr. Irene Telias
107. Dr. Mark Tessaro
108. Dr. Bourke Tillmann
109. Dr. M. Tylee
110. Dr. Zoe Von Aesch
111. Dr. Joshua Wales
112. Dr. Marcin Wasowicz
113. Dr. Nena Watson
114. Dr. Edward Xie
115. Dr. Roland Xu
116. Dr. Michael H. Yang
117. Dr. Christopher Yao
118. Dr. Christopher Yarnell
119. Dr. Eric You-Ten
120. Dr. Eric Yung

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This post was previously published on Healthy Debate with a Creative Commons License.

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