Montreal councillor pushes for mandatory truck side guards

After a series of fatal collisions involving heavytrucks, someMontrealers are pushing for more vehiclesto be equipped with side guardsdesigned to keep pedestrians and cyclists from slipping under the wheels.

In three separate accidents involving trucks this month, acyclist and a pedestrian were killed, and another cyclist was seriously injured.

Saint-Laurent boroughmayor AlanDeSousafirst pushed to equip trucks with guardsafter hearing the story of Jessica Holman-Price,the Montreal woman who was struck and killed by asnowplowin 2005 while walking inWestmount.

"We've done the retrofit of over two thirds of our fleet, with the remaining third to be completed this year. And to date we haven't encountered any significant problems," saidDeSousa.

DeSousasaidit cost the borough about $1500 per truck to install the side guards.

He said he'dlike to see all city trucksand eventually all trucks operating in Montreal adopt the same standard.

Open to discussion

Marc Cadieux of Quebec's trucking association saidhe's open to a discussion aboutinstalling side guards, however, he believesmaking them mandatory would not be easy.

"Obviously, we cannot make Montreal the only jurisdiction where those would be compulsory," said Cadieux,

"Montreal is an area where there's a lot of traffic from other provinces, coming from the [U.S.].We have a lot of foreign-plated trucks. How do you deal with all of that?"

Cadieux saidif trucks are required to be equipped with side guards, then snowplows and buses should have the same types of safeguards.

He said it's the responsibility of everyone not just truckers to keep the roads safe.

Montreal officials are meeting with the trucking association this evening to discuss the issue.

Policy changes

Montreal's administrationnow says itis consideringreviewing Quebec's trucking policyin light of the recent accidents.

This policy determines which roadstrucks can drive on in Quebec cities, andalso identifies exceptions to allow drivers to make local deliveries.

Following the death of Mathilde Blais, the citydecided to allowcyclists to use sidewalkssome places in Plateau-Mont-Royal and Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.

• Montreal adopts motion to protect cyclists after fatal crash

The boroughs plan topaint lines on the sidewalks under overpasses, leaving one side for pedestrians and one side for cyclists.