sunstealth

From what i got on the news tonight (LCN french Quebec 24 hour news channel) the driver is a firefighter and he hit the peloton while merging in the lane, sounds like pure non-attention to the road, and for his mistake theres 3 woman thriathlete & cyclist who had their life fatally shortened

the worse as I get it is the man accompanying these 3 womens were their husband (the 3 other injured people)

https://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/infos/faitsd...14-103644.html

ghettocruiser

Here we go....

CyciumX

The only way to adjust for that, IJM is safety in numbers. If 1 out of 4 vehicles you encountered were cyclists... it wouldn't take long for your local social acceptance to hard-wire that more attention needs to be made while on road, but the fewer of us there are the less 'living, breathing' reason they have of paying that, extra, special attention.

CyciumX

That torrid sharp looking path of gravel is for the cyclists? My god - that place was set to be a death trap.

electrik

Yeah, Sgt doesn't know what he is talking about... guy was a firefighter? what does he just flash his firefighter badge and not get a ticket this time.

sunstealth

i said he was a firefighter, because these guy's, normally drive the truck 1 after the other on each following calls, so he should know and be able to scan the road for danger,cars,pets,walker and cyclist.

that was the only reason i let it slide in my post.

electrik

Yeah, i understand that... it is just that i am skeptical when a "service" member gets into an accident, the system wants to go very easy on them even though they may be in the wrong. So when i read things like he was a volunteer firefighter(trained to drive) and investigating officer saying cyclists have to stay off the roads to the public i get a drift of where the charges are going.

electrik

https://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...-accident.html

"A Quebec coroner says a stretch of highway east of Montreal where three cyclists were killed and three others were injured is dangerous because it does not have a paved shoulder."

Other rumor is coming out that the driver had just finished a night shift and was possibly asleep behind the wheel.

Zaneluke

This is going to be unpopular.

Why are they riding on a road with a 55MPH speed limit? Any human with any lack of common sense knows traffic is going to be going 65. Yes, drivers fault for the accident. But as adults we should show some sort of common sense when it comes to our lives.

genec

Well bummer... you just kept me off of a lot of arterial roads in Southern California... I can no longer go anywhere but a couple miles south and about 5 miles east. Gotta stay off those 55MPH roads. Probably shouldn't be on those 65MPH roads either... in spite of them being the ONLY roads available in the area

Beginning to see a pattern here? Like these are the only roads around, so us cyclists have no choice. Back in the '70's and early '80's the only 55MPH roads were interstate freeways... But not now... somehow drivers got more skills and can now handle faster surface streets.

electrik

The trouble is when you get out into the country 90km/h and 80km/h speed limits are on every road. Trust me - There is just no way around it. If the road limit is say 60km/h you can bet it's an older road that is falling apart and has blind corners.

When taking a cross country trip, there is only one road basically through ontario... the trans-canada(HWY 1) and it is 80km/h no shoulders in parts with rolling hills. Is that to say nobody should cycle across Canada? No, i wouldnt hope so.

Keithmj

If they'll run into the back of a twenty-nine ton bus then they'll just a easily run into a one, two hundred pound bicyclist. People driving cars just don't pay attention to what they are doing and others have to pay for their stupidity. Every time you get on your bike you are taking a chance getting hit by a vehicle, just ride as though your are not going to let them win this time. There is no real solution to this problem, just do all you can do to be safe..Cheers

lucille

"
Originally Posted by Jonathan Montpetit, The Canadian Press
Quebec provincial police suggested the cyclists may have been breaking the highway safety code as they opted not to ride on a gravel bike path that runs parallel to the highway.

“When there is a bike path you have to use it,” said Sgt. Claude Denis:




Since when an unpaved, gravel shoulder is called a bike path? It wouldn't cross my mind to even attempt to ride on it.

Keithmj

Usually when you hear the word "path" a dirt trail across a field or through a woods come to mind. Now if they called it a "Lane" then that would be different. But I don't live in Canada so maybe it is different..Cheers

ItsJustMe

If I didn't ride on roads with 50+ MPH speed limits, I couldn't leave my subdivision. The road I live on is about 1/4 mile long, and both the roads that it connects to are 50 MPH roads, typical speed 60 MPH. I don't have any problems and feel very safe.

jumbalaya

There is an awesome bike path running parallel to that road. It's not the shoulder that are talking about. It's groomed packed gravel and probably not suitable for those bikes...

Here is a map of the Route 112 and the bike path running alongside. The pink is crushed stone and yellow is paved trail...

https://www.pistescyclables.ca/Monter...eDesChamps.htm

Brontide

As others have pointed out, speed is not the issue here, inattentive driver is the problem and had he been asleep it may not have mattered if they were on the shoulder ( if there was one suitable ). That said I've always had a worse time on roads without shoulders, especially where there is only 1 lane in each direction, no matter what the posted speed limit is.

gitarzan

One of the newer comments on the news page:

electrik

Yeah, there is a bike path, nobody doubted that. Apparently it was made of packed gravel which is unsuitable to a road bike.

I'm disappointed with people somehow finding fault with the victim because they weren't on the bike path. As if because there is a bike path or a mup or a sidewalk within 1km that a cyclist is to blame for whatever happens to them when they ride on the road. I also am fairly disgusted with that sgt's interpretation of the HTA.

Spire

Take a look at the comments at the bottom of the CBC article, they are almost all anti-cyclist and blaming cyclists for this and that despite the article actually saying that the group was in a clear single file.

Keithmj

I went through the newspaper stories and the different links but the reporters don't make clear for sure where this has happened. Does anyone know exactly where this accident happened. I followed Google maps the complete route that they were taking and I can not find any matches according to the pictures or video shown or what was written. Can someone pin point on Google maps where this happened?

Some of the roads shoulder is paved futher east but to the west where the accident happened it is gravel. Now in Florida by law we don't have to ride on the shoulder as it is not considered part of the roadway. I would not ride on that shoulder either. Most people would not even walk on it..I would like to know the outcome of this also.

genec

Of course, motorists are never at fault for hitting objects right in front them on the road.

dperreno

Here's the CBC link, scroll to the bottom of the story for the map with precise location

https://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...-accident.html

Keithmj

Thanks..But if you look at the first picture shown in the link and if you look at the street lights and the trees and then the road it looks nothing like the one shown on the Google map. And it looks like it was on a curve with the road curving to the right with a road cutting off of it or to the top of the picture. I was just trying to figure out why. It is sad that they had the accident especially when the cyclists were doing nothing wrong. People have to learn that bicyclist are here to stay and have the same rights to the road as vehicles.

dobber

Apparently you haven't ridden on many packed gravel paths, they are quite suitable for a road bike.