Police charge driver in Claremont Access cyclist's death

Two months after kindergarten teacher Jay Keddy was struck by a vehicle andkilled riding his bike up the ClaremontAccess,Hamilton police have laid a careless drivingcharge against adriver.

Police have charged Guy McPhee, a 56-year-old man from Hamilton,with careless driving. He's expected to appear in court on March 30.

McPheedid not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.

After Keddy was struck the vehicle that hit him left the scene.

Hamilton Police Const. Steve Weltondid not say why the investigation took more than two months, nor why there is no charge for failing to remain at the scene.

"Detectives were committed to and worked diligently to pursue the evidence during the investigation," Welton said."They were thorough, and it took time.We know and understand how difficult these tragic events are on everyone in the community."

The careless driving charge comes with a fine between $400 and $2,000, a possible six months in jail, and the possibility ofa license suspensionfor up to two years, according to the Highway Traffic Act.

• Kindergarten teacher Jay Keddy killed biking on Claremont Access
• 'Ghost bike' march calls for safer streets after cyclist killed
• Cycling advocates call for Hamilton to boost bike infrastructure

Police seized ablack pickup truck involved in the collision, and which police say fled the scene, in December. Police questioned a man at the time of the collision, but released him "unconditionally."

In the wake of Keddy's death, friends and cycling advocatesparticipated in a march up the Claremont Access to place a white "ghost bike" as a memorial to the cyclist, churchgoer, fatherand popular teacher.

Keddy's death has also served as a catalyst in the conversation about Hamilton's cycling infrastructure, as the road he died on was identified as a place to build a protected bike lane in the city's 2009 "Shifting Gears" report.