Darcy Allan Shepard's partner Misty at the Memorial- Toronto Star photo
A horrific tragedy, by all accounts.
The spark? A growing trend, cyclists intolerant of other road users.
A friend of mine was in Toronto the last two weeks, and followed this closely (it wasn't hard, as it was all over the news). Initial public reaction was sympathetic towards the cyclist. That sympathy quickly changed to antagonism due to two things: 1) more details about the event became public knowledge, and 2) cyclists who blocked streets in Toronto while taunting motorists ("cagers", as they like to say), which is seldom an ideal way to treat someone controlling a potentially deadly weapon.
When you want to take something away from people (land, for example), and claim it for your sole use, you have to expect a reaction. However, I suppose we can expect such behavior in a city like Toronto (thought by some to be the most civil major urban center in the North America), whereas in Texas, no such problems will exist, so long as we remember to wear our rose-tinted glasses, and click the heels of our ruby slippers.
Consistently, experience has shown that bicyclists who simply bother to learn to operate as traffic suffer far fewer confrontations than do those cyclists who insist on operating extra-traffic, as a cross between a vehicle and a pedestrian.
But traffic intolerant cyclists have an ally, bicycle intolerant motorists. Why? Because they both want the same thing: the removal of each other from their paths.
I refuse to encourage either of them.
2 comments:
With or without bike lanes, this seems a whole different world than what I can imagine in North Texas.
I rode in Hamilton, Ontario for about 6 months. I had a "bike". I had no blinkie and I used a flashlight for a headlight.
I did not know better and quite possibly could not spare the money to buy a helmet. I wore with a woolen hat most of the year. I did not have any proper "bike clothing" or any bright colored vests or jackets.
I rode in downtown Hamilton where I lived, where there was considerable traffic. I had no trouble getting around on a bike.
The drivers in Hamilton, Ontario, were courteous. I would definitely say more courteous based on my 16 month tenure in DFW.
I never rode in Toronto but I would not think it would be that bad/different.
The event that you have posted about, PM, is very sad!
I so badly want to say, "Can't we all just get along?". But, I am too much of an idealist, sometimes.
But, let me quote the Mahatma:
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
- Mahatma Gandhi
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