Cyclist says Saskatoon a 'hostile' environment for riders in wake of recent death

Saskatoon cyclist Miki Mappin was hit by a vehicle on Avenue P about five years ago, and the recent death of another cyclist highlights safety concerns for riders in the city.

On Wednesday, 36-year-old Darin Leon Kinniewess was hit and killed by a vehicle driven by a motorist near the intersection of 19th Street West and Avenue P South. He was taken to hospital, but died the next morning due to injuries sustained in the crash. 

"It kind of brings up a sort of a traumatic reaction in me to think about people dying on bicycles so often," said Mappin, who rides her bike every day in Saskatoon's west end. "When I'm riding my bicycle, I fear that."

Mappin, who lives in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood, has been a cyclist for nearly 40 years. About five years ago, while biking uphill on Avenue P in the winter, Mappin says she was sideswiped by a school bus.

"Instead of waiting, the school bus tried to squeeze past me and pulled in and the back part of the bus kind of pushed against the side of me," she said.

While Mappin wasn't injured or knocked from her bicycle, she said the incident was still "extremely frightening" because of the potential danger.

Then in 2020, while on her way home from a grocery store on 22nd Street, she was struck by a vehicle and fell off her bicycle onto the cement.

"The motorist that had sideswiped me, actually stopped and got out of the car and came and accused me of damaging his car," said Mappin.

At the site of the crash where Kinniewess was hit, bystanders rushed to help last week. 

Vivian Caisse said she was there when it happened, and she heard a loud bang followed by a scream. 

Caisse rushed over to find Kinniewess stuck under the vehicle.

"Like [he] couldn't move, and I was trying to keep him calm, telling him to lay still ... And he kept saying it hurts, and I kept telling him he just got hit by a vehicle," she said. 

The police and fire department arrived at 5:45 p.m. CST. Cassie said she and about five others helped lift the vehicle from on top of Kinniewess. 

"The only thing [Kinniewess] said is 'I just wanna go home and eat.' That's it. He just wanted to go home and eat," Cassie said.