Roger du Toit was a prominent architect who left his fingerprints all over our city. He was hit by a car while biking in Rosedale, and he passed away last Monday. Today was the memorial ride.
More people showed up that would be expected from the fact that it was bucketing rain for the hour before the appointed meeting time. There were quite a few people from his firm, and they were passing out T shirts with a picture of Roger.
The ghost bike arrives.
Geoffrey gets things rolling. Joey also cautioned the first ride riders and said that “we don’t want any more accidents today”. Amen to that.
Heading down Bloor.
A brief stop at DTAH to ring bells.
The collision site. Apparently this intersection was approved for a four way stop in February by City Council, but the signs were not in place. There is high speed traffic here with cars coming on and off Mt. Pleasant about 40 m away.
Installation of the ghost bike.
Our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.
Video from today. You’ll note the one SUV driver who insisted on passing everyone by driving in the left hand lane. God forbid that he be delayed by even a minute.
Updates:
- coverage from Lloyd Alter of Treehugger.
- Wayne Scott’s pictures on FB.
- Globe and Mail Obituary
- Metro news coverage
- Now Magazine coverage by Hamish Wilson What is infuriating about this is that the city is now rushing to put up all way stop signs at the intersection. A few weeks too late, me thinks.
Biking in a Big City 
That was fast! I have put your video and a link in TreeHugger.com. http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/ghost-bike-memorial-ride-prominent-toronto-architect-and-urbanist-roger-du-toit.html
Thanks Lloyd. I’m sorry that we didn’t get a chance to chat. I’ve enjoyed your coverage in Treehugger for years.
Just wanted to let you know that we’ve added Roger’s name to the Ride of Silence memorial database: http://www.rideofsilence.org/memoriam.php#letter_D
Thank you for all you have done to honor and remember Roger’s life and protect the lives of other bicyclists in Toronto by raising awareness of bicyclists’ rights to the roads there.