Thread by @FFSafeStreets

Action alert!📢Remember the Leslieville crash where a driver struck a young woman in the #Dundas bike lane, critically injuring her with horrific head injuries? Her name is Julia and SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW. Please go to: gofundme.com/f/julia-rehabi…
#BikeTO #TOpoli #TODeadlyStreets

Here's the story if you don't remember: toronto.ctvnews.ca/cyclist-suffer… Julia was riding in the bike lane, doing nothing wrong, when a speeding driver struck her, nearly killing her. Maddeningly, no followup re driver's name or whether charges laid. #BikeTO #TODeadlyStreets #RoadViolence

Enabled by #TODeadlyStreets and lack of any physical protection, this driver inflicted: "two skull fractures, brain hemorrhaging, two arterial dissections resulting in multiple strokes, broken ribs, a broken collar bone, fractured bone fragments in her cheeks, a punctured lung...

...liver damage, a broken femur, and a broken jaw in two places."

LOOK AT HER BIKE. IMAGINE THIS HAPPENING TO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE!!!!!!!!! And now imagine that even though #VisionZeroTO has been in effect for years now, there are ZERO plans to add protection to #Dundas. NONE

Insurance coverage for victims has been gutted, so any possible settlement Julia might recover from the driver's insurance will never cover her cost of care. (It's very likely the insurance company will do repugnant mental gymnastics to avoid taking full responsibility for this.)

Besides the cost of her treatment, rehabilitation, and equipment like wheelchairs, her family’s home must be renovated to make it accessible: installing ramps, expanding a bathroom, rollin-shower, etc. It's all more expensive than you would ever guess before you're faced with it.

This stomach-wrenching trauma was entirely preventable.

But our leaders seem to be more wrenched at the thought of political blowback over changing our streetscapes for the better. It must be easier for them to watch this happen to Julia, to #DouglasCrosbie and #KristyHodgson.

That's right, two preventable deaths and this horrific nightmare happened along an 800m stretch of #Dundas but there are no plans announced to add protection. We're getting some improvement where #DouglasCrosbie was killed, but not even a protected intersection. #TODeadlyStreets

.@PaulaFletcherTO and @TO_Transport, can you clarify whether adding a barrier along #Dundas is in the works given how immensely dangerous it is? If not, why not? It's been touted Toronto is taking a "data-driven" approach to #VisionZeroTO-what more data could you possibly need?!

.@JohnTory @TorontosMayor will you throw any #PoliticalWill behind fixing #Dundas immediately?

Human life should not be cheaper than a prefabricated concrete barrier. #TODeadlyStreets #BikeTO #WalkTO #RoadViolence #ZeroVisionTO

To Julia, friends, family, anyone harmed by #RoadViolence and #TODeadlyStreets: you are not alone. Our hearts are with you. FFSS is here to support you. We run monthly #PeerSupport meetings. See ffsafestreets.ca or facebook.com/ffsafestreets/ for dates. We tweet them too

Please, please consider helping Julia. She was a vibrant, passionate, fierce 23-year-old. She had a degree in Early Childhood Studies and worked with children. She brought positive energy everywhere she went. Now her and her family's life have been blown apart by #TODeadlyStreets

The link once more: gofundme.com/f/julia-rehabi… Please help Julia if you can!