A ghost bike was installed Saturday on Chemin de l’Anse-à-l’Orme, in the West Island of Montreal, to honor the memory of Irène Dehem, a cyclist fatally caught on the spot a year earlier. .
Posted at 5:07 p.m.
A few dozen people gathered for the ceremony under a blazing sun, during which tributes to the victim alternated with calls for action.
Mme Dehem was described by those close to her as a prudent and well-liked woman. She lost her life on May 18, 2021 after colliding with a southbound car that veered out of its lane, hitting the northbound cyclist.
Photo Philippe Boivin, the press
Irène Dehem was fatally hit by a car on May 18, 2021.
“My mother is the very example that our personal precautions are sometimes not enough. We also have to take precautions as a society,” said Friedrich Dehem-Lemelin, one of the victim’s three sons. “A cycle lane like here is not an adequate infrastructure,” he denounced, referring to the simple paint line that separates car traffic from cyclists on Chemin de l’Anse-à-l’Orme. .
“Since the creation of Vélophantom in 2013, this bike is the 17and white bike that we pose. Many were placed on wide transit routes, like here, ”lamented Shanti Larochelle, a spokesperson for the organization. “Their configuration too often encourages drivers of motorized vehicles to go fast, to the detriment of safety. »
She also denounced distracted driving and motorists’ ignorance of the minimum regulatory distance to maintain when overtaking a cyclist, i.e. 1 or 1.5 m depending on the speed limit, according to the Safety Code. road.
Photo Philippe Boivin, the press
A few dozen people gathered for the ceremony under a blazing sun, during which tributes to the victim alternated with calls for action.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) investigated the collision, but was unable to say on Saturday whether criminal charges were filed against the motorist who mowed down Mme Dehem. The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) did not respond to questions from The Press in this sense at the time of publishing this text.
Several local elected officials were on hand during the ceremony. Marianne Giguère, the advisor associated with active transport on the executive committee of the City of Montreal, assured that the City “still has the desire to add as many kilometers as possible of protected cycle paths”, a “very long-term” job. which includes upgrading existing tracks. But in the end, “everyone wins, the whole street is peaceful, the whole street is humanized,” she argued, citing the example of the Réseau express vélo (REV) on rue Saint-Denis.
Regarding the Anse-à-l’Orme road, Mr.me Giguère said he was waiting for the coroner’s report before considering the solutions to be adopted to make the bike path safer, if necessary.
According to the latest report from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), 16 cyclists died on the roads of Quebec in 2021.