A police officer was parked just behind the ghost bike for Kartik Saini and cycling Twitter is not impressed, to say the least. Saini, 20, killed on Nov. 30 when a pickup driver hit him as he made an illegal right turn in Toronto.
Saini was an international student from India, attending Sheridan College. He came to Toronto in September of 2021 to study.
The 60-year-old driver was driving a Ford F-250 truck, and was heading west on St. Clair and turned right to go north on Yonge street. Saini was crossing Yonge street and heading eastbound. Right turns are not allowed between 4 and 6 p.m. during the week at that intersection. The driver was ultimately charged with one count of careless driving causing death, one count of turning not in safety, and one count of proceeding contrary to a sign.
On Tuesday, David Shellnutt, a.k.a. The Biking Lawyer tweeted a photo of a police cruiser parked in a bike lane, right behind the ghost bike memorial that was left for Saini. Shellnutt pointed out that a police officer can only park in a lane while “actively engaged in responding to an emergency.” It was unclear if that was the case, however, as Shellnutt said that some witnesses said that they saw officers going into a nearby Starbucks.
“At such a significant place honouring a killed cyclist, Kartik Saini, we remind Toronto Police
and the public that parking in bike lanes is illegal/dangerous. Please do reach out to us to set the record straight if we’ve got this completely wrong,” Shellnutt added.
🧵I’m hopeful @TorontoPolice can clarify for our community whether this cruiser was parked in a bike lane by #KartikSaini’s memorial on Dec. 6 @ 6pm while ‘actively engaged in responding to an emergency’ or as witnesses indicate, while officers attended a nearby @Starbucks 1/5 pic.twitter.com/77OaI5aEBy
— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) December 8, 2022
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…