A relaxing, early morning ride can be ruined in the matter of seconds by a motorist doing something stupid. For me, it was a driver who decided to do a U-Turn as she had missed her exit, and then drive in the opposite direction in the bike bath. In Toronto, there is a section of road on Bayview Avenue where there is only one lane for driving, heading south. The other lane is a bi-directional, separated bike lane. There are bollards every few metres, making it nearly impossible for a car to squeeze through. Nearly impossible.
A summer morning ruined by crappy driving
I was riding north on the separated bike lane, enjoying the summer breeze, when I spotted the motorist doing what seemed to be a three-point turn. Well, more like five-point, but anyway.
As anyone who’s ridden in cities before knows, you have to assume the worst with most drivers. That means hands on the brakes and being prepared to stop. And sure enough, the worst happened. The motorist completed her five-point turn, and given the narrowness of the lanes, that meant driving in the bikes-only section. I braked hard and barely missed her. As a former bike racer, I feel pretty good about my reactions, but still, this was close. What if it was someone who wasn’t as experienced with cycling? If they were new to riding? I can’t imagine.
Nothing like seeing a car drive 60km/h in a separated bike lane after almost killing me pic.twitter.com/6YxvX63oDm
— Matt Hansen (@mattiojelly) July 12, 2023
I of course screamed at the woman, who waved her hand, and continued to apologize. But then what happened next was even worse. Despite me telling her she had majorly screwed up…she then sped off…in the bike lane, going 60-80 km/h.
Irresponsible driving can kill
There were a few other cyclists up the road who thankfully noticed her well in advance and weren’t hurt. When I caught up to her, as you can imagine, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with her driving. She kept saying how sorry she was. If you were sorry, I said, you would have made the responsible choice and kept driving to the end of the road and found a suitable road to drive back north on. We all make mistakes when driving and can miss exits, but that doesn’t mean you endanger people’s lives.
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