Family sues city over lack of suicide barriers on Leaside Bridge after dad killed by falling man

Hamilton Spectator

10-05-2025

The family of a man who died last June after the vehicle he was in was struck by a person jumping from the Leaside Bridge is suing the city for failing to put up suicide barriers.
Four days short of his 77th birthday, Harold Lusthouse had been a passenger in a car on the Don Valley Parkway, with his wife behind the wheel. They had been headed to a Father's Day brunch.
That's when a man crashed onto their car from above, 'violently crushing Harold,' the lawsuit says.
The father of two sustained 'catastrophic personal injuries' and was hospitalized for a few days to undergo surgery. Lusthouse 'endured great pain and suffering as well as profound physical and emotional shock' before he died a couple of days later. The man who had crashed onto the car also died.
Lusthouse's daughter, Tali Uditsky, 50, and son, Landon Lusthouse, 46, are seeking at least $1.7 million — plus legal costs if the case goes to trial. Lusthouse's grandchildren, ages 18 and 20, are also part of the suit.
The view of the Don Valley Parkway from the Leaside Bridge, which carries Millwood Road.
The family has 'suffered and will continue to suffer from nervous and emotional shock, mental anguish, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression,' said a statement of claim filed Tuesday. It noted the family has run up significant expenses, including funeral costs, psychiatric counselling, medical, rehabilitative and 'other out-of-pocket expenses.'
Initial reports said the man on the bridge jumped, according to police notes obtained by the Star from the day of the incident. The police service has not definitively confirmed that it was a suicide, but has previously told the Star the case is not criminal.
According to the claim, the city 'failed to consider and/or take steps to install a barrier at the Leaside Bridge for decades' despite installing a barrier at the Bloor Viaduct in 2003.
Studies have shown
these barriers are an effective deterrence.
A city spokesperson said Thursday the municipality will respond to the lawsuit 'in due course,' but currently had 'no further comment as the matter is before the court.'
The claim's allegations have not been tested in court.
The Bloor Viaduct was once second in North America, only to the Golden Gate Bridge, in the number of suicides it saw each year. Its barrier has since saved dozens of lives, with suicides falling from 48 in the five years before the barrier to just two in the subsequent 17 years. The city 'recklessly and carelessly' failed to do the same on the Leaside Bridge, the claim alleges.
The lawsuit argues the city has addressed safety risks with bridges in Toronto in a 'haphazard and reckless manner.'
Council voted Thursday to have senior city officials to negotiate a contract 'on a non-competitive basis' for the barrier's design.
Council voted Thursday to have senior city officials to negotiate a contract 'on a non-competitive basis' for the barrier's design.
Prior to the lawsuit being filed, the city told the Star that it works with Toronto Public Health, distress centres, police and Sunnybrook Hospital to identify 'priority bridge locations' using several factors, including the number of deaths by suicide, suicide attempts at each location and whether the bridge crosses a roadway or a pedestrian trail.
The number of suicides at Leaside Bridge reached nine as recently as 2022, similar to the Bloor Viaduct before its barrier went up, according to police data obtained by the Star. As of last year, the police service continued to field numerous calls each year near the bridge about a 'person in crisis,' but not all of which resulted in suicide.
The claim argues the city should have known the Leaside Bridge is a 'high-risk' location and poses a safety risk to highway drivers below.
In 2018, the
city's chief medical officer of health warned council
of the dangers of high-risk bridges and to install barriers. That same year, the city began reviewing the feasibility of barriers as part of its state-of-good-repair, decade-long bridge rehabilitation project. But city staff told council last month that Leaside was not a part of that program.
Though the city has since identified the Leaside Bridge as another 'high-risk location for suicide,' it was a councillor's
motion last year following Lusthouse's death that sparked the move to fast-track a barrier to
the bridge.
The family's lawsuit claims the city hired 'incompetent employees, servants and/or agents' to monitor, inspect and maintain the bridge, but also failed to 'properly train' its staff to carry out these duties, including 'record-keeping' of the bridge.
Last month,
Uditsky and Landon made an emotional plea to council's executive committee
to install safety barriers on the bridge — and do it fast. Council
voted in late April to do just that
.
While it's a step in the right direction, council's decision doesn't bring back Lusthouse, said the family's lawyer Stephen Birman, who practises in personal injury law at Thomson Rogers LLP.
Tali Uditsky and Landon Lusthouse, the children of Harold Lusthouse, gave an emotional presentation about the death of their father at city hall on April 9. The 76-year-old was killed when a person fell from the Leaside Bridge last year, landing on his car.
'A family's life is never the same after something like this happens,' Birman told the Star in an interview.
'But above and beyond that, this is an issue about public safety and how a municipality should respond to known dangers or hazards in the community,' he continued.
Prior to the lawsuit, city staff told the Star it was not involved in the decision-making processes of more than 20 years ago regarding the Bloor Viaduct, and why Leaside didn't get one much sooner, so they are 'not in a position to comment on historical actions by the city.'
Birman said that the city can't provide answers is another reason this lawsuit is important.
'To ensure that something like this doesn't fall between the cracks,' he said. 'Other major cities in Canada, like Montreal, Edmonton, Halifax and Vancouver, did act long ago. My clients want to know why Toronto didn't.'
If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at
www.988.ca
or
www.camh.ca/en/health-info/crisis-resources
. You can also connect 24 hours a day to the national Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8 (text or call), the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or
Toronto Distress Centres
at 416-408-4357. The 24/7
Toronto Community Crisis Service
is also now providing support citywide and can be reached by calling 2-1-1.