What a dangerous morning!
Let’s start with definitions.
Incident: An event that has caused or has the potential to cause damage.
Accident: This is the bad stuff.
Remember this accident I had? Well.. of course you don’t and I don’t care if you do, but I think about it every day. It makes me more conscious, but I don’t change the way I ride nonetheless.
This morning, it almost happened again. In fact, I would have hit that door if I was any slower. As I passed by the car door, I heard the door starting to open. No one was harmed, so it didn’t matter to me, but I was glad to notice that it was a man. The last two accidents of that kind that I had were caused by involved women, so the joke about women being bad drivers wasn’t a joke anymore. But this time, I might consider men and women as equals again. This was only incident number 1 involving a car.
In Montreal, as in many other cities, many people go jogging. I’ve never been to Paris, but I’ve been told that we have wider streets. Even so, incidents can happen, especially when joggers maintain their speed when crossing corners where there are tall bushes blocking the view of incoming objects like human, vehicles, cats, dogs, birds,… I realize that it’s good for the body to maintain a certain rhythm when exercising, but it’s hardly a reason to shut down all senses. This was incident number 2.
The photo above shows a viaduct. I took the shot last year for the beautiful rainbow. On the right side, closer to the viaduct there’s a track made for bikers and it goes out the other side. When I arrived there this morning, I saw from far away a group of bikers looking around and they didn’t seem to know where to go. As I approached, there were red and white lights flashing under the bridge and cars were slowing down. Car accident, I thought. There was an ambulance, but no messed up cars. It was actually a biking accident in the viaduct.
I saw the ambulance people taking care of the rider and that’s about it. I passed by rather quickly to get out of the way. You know how the saying goes… third time’s a charm.
What a horrible post in every way. Anybody have so good news?
I feel obligated to say that we’ve been having a wonderful sunny, shiny, warm, and pleasant week in Montreal since last weekend. To all outsiders, it’s a great time to come to Montreal. To all insiders, it’s a great time to stay in Montreal, if you can, take your vacations when summer ends
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I do not mean to offend you in any way Long, as i think you make great contributions to this blog however as a cyclist and a motorist in this city I wonder why is it that you know that people open their doors mindlessely, yet you still ride in the “danger zone”.
When I bike by a row of cars I do NOT cut the razors’ edge and try to ride as close as possible to the doors, I know doing this will simply get me hurt when an inconsiderate person throws open their door. It’s the carnal rule of cycling, be wary of ALL cars, especially the parked ones.
I ride out as far as possible from them and i have never been hit by a door. I have had the odd drive honk for me being in “their lane” but i’d rather be honked at, then read about.
Just food for thought, the difference between hitting a car door and not is only about 12 inches. Just make some room!!
I gotta agree with Mikel, Long.
When I ride faster then the traffic, I ride dead middle of the road.
When I ride slower then the traffic, I ride to the right of traffic but far enough from the cars.
Listen, it’s Hobbsian out there..
J
I agree with you guys. Riding away from the cars is safe practice and I do do that. I’ve done it since… last year. However, it’s something that can become difficult. For example, when traffic on a one-lane street is jammed. Not all streets are large. For some, I wonder what they do during winter with all the snow. But in such case, I don’t see the right answer aside from getting off and walking.
Another situation is the reserved path for cyclists. Some of them are well done and they really do protect people. I’m thinking of the one on Berri where there’s a clear indication that the street is divided between cars, bikes and pedestrians.
However, there are paths like the one that goes from Parc Lafontaine to someplace north of Montreal. On that two-direction path, cars and bikes are separated by posts. Paths like that are not even 2 meters wide. In fact, it’s about the smallest side of a queen-size bed, so when car drivers open their door, half the path is useless. The option are to dodge, to stop or to hit.
Dodging can only be done if there are no riders coming the other way or simply on the left. Stopping can only be done there was enough response time. Hitting happens when a cyclist is about 3 meters away a car whose driver opens their door without looking or looking at something else like their cell phone.
All that to say that it doesn’t hurt anybody, neither cyclists nor drivers, to watch out before doing any action and it doesn’t even involve thinking.
By the way, what does Hobbsian mean?