Natasha Fox killed while riding bicycle in Saskatoon
On May 24th, 2023 Natasha Fox was struck and killed by a cement truck while riding her bike in Saskatoon. Based on reports from various news articles (Saskatoon Today, CTV News, CBC) Natasha was riding with her two children behind her. This happened on the corner of College Drive and Wiggins Avenue. As a parent of young kids who often rides with them, a faculty member on the University of Saskatchewan campus, and someone who studies cycling injuries, this death is deeply troubling. There are two things could have prevented this death and three reasons why Saskatoon and the University have not implemented these changes in my opinion. I will provide a quick TLDR at the end of what doesn’t matter in this case for people who like to fight on the internet.
What could have prevented this
From that I can tell from photos in news media this death looks like it was caused by what’s called a “right hook.” The final details of the police reporting will tell the full story and I’m making some assumptions because of what I see and the need to respond to this quickly. That said, in a right hook injury the person on a bike or walking are going straight through a green light (they have the right of way), and a person driving turns right without seeing them and causes an injury or death. From the picture below you can see the truck was turning right onto College from Wiggins. There is a lot of construction in this area of the city at the moment because of water main replacements in Varsity View. It is likely that construction vehicles are commonly using this intersection.
There is one critical policy and one small bit of infrastructure that likely would have prevented this death and many injuries and close calls, not only for people on bikes, but pedestrians, and drivers too.
- A no right turn on red law. Allowing right turns on red lights increases all crashes by 23%, pedestrian crashes by about 60%, and bicyclist crashes by 100%.
- Separated cycling infrastructure on Wiggins and College. Separate cycling infrastructure is a proven way to reduce risk for drivers and people on bikes alike. These policies are both proven to improve safety not only for people riding riding bikes, but also for people driving and walking.
What matters in this case
Policy Failure: The 2013 USask Sustainable Mobility Plan and 2015 Cycling Infrastructure Report. These two reports identify College and Wiggins as a key area of concern. The 2013 report identifies Wiggins Avenue North (the other end of the intersection from where the fatal incident took place — based on photos as referenced) as a key place for cycling infrastructure and traffic calming (see image below from page 20 of the report). Despite this identification, the 2015 report states dismissively, “Wiggins Avenue has no land owned by the University of Saskatchewan and at a width of 9.1 metres is not wide enough to support bicycle infrastructure (Page 10).”
It seems strange that the university would be so defeated about a separate cycle track on Wiggins considering the City and UofS have a long history of collaboration on urban planning around the University and that the City had also previously proposed to establish Wiggins as a shared bikeway back in 2014. Cycling advocates called for separated solutions instead. In the end, no changes were made at Wiggins. So, between the two entities, we have had 10 years of policy failure on doing something to improve safety for cycling, walking, and driving at this intersection.
Political Failure: Along with policy failure, Saskatoon also has a long history of political failure related to safe cycling in Saskatoon. Mayor Charlie Clark, our mayor for the past nearly 8 years, is nicknamed “bike lane Charlie” by his political opponents. But political name-calling or nicknaming is rarely an accurate depiction. We have had failure and inaction with implementing safe cycling infrastructure in this city for at least 20 years. I get why the mayor and council are slow to act on this. Cycling infrastructure is a political hot potato that many people are willing to fight like hell to stop from happening. But we have seen time and again in places like Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Victoria, and Halifax that strong leadership, especially from the mayor, is a critical factor in making safe cycling infrastructure a reality in cities not so different from Saskatoon.
Equity Failure: If this is indeed a right hook death, a critical failure is lack of gender and equity considerations in our planning on the USask campus and at the City of Saskatoon. Women are much more likely to be injured and killed in right hook crashes for a number of reasons. The reasons don’t really matter, what we need to do is resolve the outcome of injury and death. The City of Edmonton of has adopted a Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) approach in all of it’s urban and traffic planning. This approach helps the people who are planning at the city to take into account and plan for the most vulnerable road users and specific instances where they are at greater risk. Right hook crashes are critical example of a type of crash that disproportionately effects women and should be considered in our planning processes in Saskatoon. The City adopted a Triple Bottom Line policy in 2020, which includes equity considerations. I hope a gender and equity lens is included in considering transportation safety improvements, including all cycling infrastructure going forward.
My only hope for this tragic death is that it spurs the city (both council and citizens) to create change. To support laws and infrastructure that make all types of mobility, from walking, to e-scooters, to cycling safer.
Things that don’t matter in this case — or any case
It doesn’t matter if the person was wearing a helmet. When a person is riding a bicycle and is struck by a large vehicle they will almost certainly get pulled under the wheels and crushed. If this happens, 70% of the time, the person riding will have fatal injuries unrelated to their head.
It doesn’t matter if the person was not “following the law.” The road traffic laws in Saskatchewan and Canada consider bikes to be motor vehicles. Cycling in the manner of a ‘motor vehicle’ can be a truly terrifying experience on many streets in this city and many cities. People on bikes do many things that do not follow the letter of law to improve their personal safety and make it easier for people driving cars to pass safely or not slow down. The same is true of people driving cars. Drivers do many illegal things to go faster, including not fully stopping at right turns or stop signs, speeding, and much more. Evidence shows that when people drive they break more laws on average than when people cycle.
