By CHRIS DOUCETTE, SUN MEDIA

A 'ghost bike' at the corner of Braemar and Eglinton Aves.sits as a
memorial to a cyclist killed by an open car door last month. (John
Hanley/Sun Media)

A motorist who killed a cyclist with her car
door as he rode along a Toronto street is facing a charge that carries
the same $110 fine riders face for not having a bell on their bike.

"That's just simply not good enough," Yvonne Bambrick,
assistant co-ordinator of the Toronto Cyclists Union, said angrily
yesterday.

Toronto Police allege the 43-year-old driver, whose name was
not released, carelessly opened the door of her Volvo May 22 and sent
the cyclist crashing to his death on Eglinton Ave. W. near Avenue Rd.

It's a move commonly called a "'door prize" among cyclists and it's usually just painful. But in this case it was deadly.

The 57-year-old cyclist, a father and area resident, crashed into the door and landed in the path of a van.

"I'm just filled with sorrow at the thought of somebody being dead
because one person didn't do their job as a citizen," Bambrick said.
"It's awful and it didn't have to happen."

Police announced yesterday the driver will be charged
with opening a vehicle door improperly under the Highway Traffic Act, a
charge that includes a $110 fine.

Bambrick said the penalty is "inadequate" and she pointed
out that during a week-long police blitz which wrapped up last weekend,
cyclists received the same fine for not completely halting and putting
a foot on the ground at a stop sign.

Police say they issued 3,691 tickets to motorists for
opening vehicle doors improperly and failing to yield to cyclists
during the blitz.

Bambrick believes the driver should be charged under Section
249 of the Criminal Code, which states anyone who operates a motor
vehicle in a manner that is dangerous to the public ... and thereby
causes the death of another person is guilty of an indictable offence.

Traffic Services Sgt. Tim Burrows said investigators
consulted with the Crown attorney's office and determined any other
charges would only get thrown out in court because the vehicle was
parked. "It's an absolute tragedy that somebody died," he said. "But
the reality is that if we laid a criminal charge, it wouldn't go
anywhere."

Eleanor McMahon, whose husband Greg Stobbart was killed
while biking when he was run off the road by a truck in 2006, believes
"better laws" are the answer. "You really can't blame the police here,"
she said. "We need to look at beefing up the Highway Traffic Act."

McMahon, whose husband was an OPP officer, fears the problem
is only going to get worse as the cost of fuel rises and more people
turn to pedal power.