blakcloud

Short version. A driver try to run me down twice two days ago. Today same driver physically assaulted me. Police arrested him three hours later and charged him with Dangerous Driving which is a criminal offence, Mischief times 2 and Assault.

Toronto is a great city to cycle in but there will always be drivers who think they own the road.

The cost to this person will be significant if he is convicted. He will lose his license, insurance rates will skyrocket, he will have a criminal record, the financial cost of hiring a lawyer, missing work to attend court and the social impact of being a criminal are huge costs. All because he doesn't like sharing the road with cyclists. Really a sad way to teach someone that we all belong and share the same roadways.

megalowmatt

Wow. Was there something that brought it all on or was he just out to get you?

Matariki

Was it Rob Ford?

ThermionicScott 

+1.

AlTheKiller

Good to hear he got caught and justice is on the menu. I hope they don't end up dropping the charges ridiculously low.

lol

WestPablo

This guy sounds like the average driver in Miami!

Glad he got his desserts

e0richt

really would like more info on what happened...

Walter S

Did you have to turn him in? Or did the police observe and act directly?

spare_wheel

bravo! please provide details on how you got the fuzz to take this seriously.

totally off topic: it's rare to see someone who owns a sam hillborne and a trek portland. you have eclectic tastes.

bragi

Wow. I've never been to Toronto, but it seems to be two completely different mental universes occupying the same physical space...

NoviceJohn

What are the chances the guy, who tried to run you over a couple of days ago, cross paths with you again today lol? Typically, those a-holes are people you'll meet once in your lifetime even if they live in the city as you.

Good luck with your case. If I were you, I'll take this scumbag to civil court (small claims so you don't have to hire a lawyer) and sue for pain and suffering just to stick it to him even more. Better yet, take his butt to some T.V. judge and expose his face on national television.

blakcloud

Here is the semi-long version of what happened. On Wednesday morning I was riding in the sharrow lane. A sharrow lane is a shared lane during rush hour where a cyclist is allowed to take the lane instead of being at the right side of the lane. This is legal and safest part of the lane and what it is designed for. A driver who was behind me didn't like that I was blocking him so he drove around me and then cut me off, so that I had to brake in order not to hit him from behind. This would be considered careless driving and is a charge under the Highway Traffic Act.

A cyclist behind me, came up to me and said he thought it was too close for comfort. At the next set of lights I passed the driver and again was in the sharrow lane. The driver drove up beside me and then veered into me trying to hit me. I had to move out of the way, otherwise I would have gotten hit. Then he tried it again, missing me by inches. The same cyclist witnessed this again. The driver stopped in front of me and I stopped and was phoning 911. He saw this and took off. I got his plate number or so I thought.

911 told me to go to the nearest police station and report it. The witness said he would be glad to help in any way. Once at the police station I told them what happened and they looked up the plate number which I got wrong. More about this later. They told me they couldn't start fishing for plate numbers but if I ever saw him again, take a photo of the plate and bring it back to them and they would charge him with Dangerous Driving (criminal offence).

Two days later I was riding to work, in another part of the city and I see the same driver pass me going the opposite direction. I couldn't believe my luck. In a city of three million I never thought I would see him again. I rode up to the vehicle and took a photo of his license plate from the rear. Then I went to the front and took a photo of the SUV.

The driver saw me do this and got out of his car and went berserk. He grabbed me and wouldn't let go. With his other hand he kept trying to grab my iPhone He did eventually grab the phone and ripped the case off but I got the phone back. He then tried to grab my bike to throw it but it weighs 37 pounds and he would have to had to let go of me to do this. He wrecked the rear fender. He kept screaming at me and asking why I took his photo.

He then pushed me across a lane of traffic but never let go of me. He told me he was going to beat the crap out of me. I said to him you're going to beat me up in front of all these witnesses? He thought about this and decided to let me go. But just before he let go of me, he asked again why I took his photo and I told him because he was the one that I had an altercation with two days earlier. His face was blank, like he didn't know what happened. He then got back to his vehicle and his mother rolled down the window and told me I shouldn't take photos of him. He drove off I called the police.

The police came took my a video statement and my photos as evidence. When I originally gave the plate number of the vehicle to the police I mixed up one letter. I said it was an E when it was F. He had this license plate holder that covered the bottom of the plate, but the other six were correct.

Three hours later the driver was arrested and charged with Dangerous Driving, Mischief x 2, and Assault.

So I hope that answers most of your questions. It is his first offence so I don't have any hope he will serve jail time and it will be plea bargained down. I will sue him for my wrecked phone case and fender. I already have a lawyer.

To be honest I was scared. He was bigger than me and at least twice as strong, plus he was enraged. Hopefully he will learn from this.

We still have a great city to cycle in though our mayor is a bit of an embarrassment.

wolfchild

I hope it will cost him a lot of money. It would be nice if his drivers license gets suspended.

dwellman

Too bad this guy can't be made an example of like those sort of pointless text and drive PSA's

But thank you to the vast majority of drivers with far better patience and self control. . .

nkfrench 

I am confused. Did you filter ahead of the driver in a lane that is too narrow for a car and bike to share?

Updated: OP, do not answer this question. That is information not appropriate for posting on the internet.

spare_wheel

If a cyclist can filter past a car then by definition the lane was not too narrow.

nkfrench 

I have seen cyclists filter up just scooting their bicycle along cars stopped for a traffic light.
It can be done when the car is about 2-3 feet from the curb.

bigfred 

It's possible to safely filter past cars that are stopped in a much narrower space than would be safe for them to pass at a much greater speed differential.

spare_wheel

Whether filtering feels "safe" depends on spatial context, speed of traffic, and the skill and/or risk-aversion of the cyclist. Whether filtering is really safe requires unbiased research and statistical validation.

bigfred 

So, would you be more satisfied if I were to have written "more safely"?

Life's not "safe". But, that doesn't stop us from trying to make is "safer".

Anyhow. Point being, it is the cyclists and motorcyclists that decide what constitutes acceptable room for two abreast in one lane. Not the four wheeled drivers.

KonAaron Snake 

Point being it is the 2 ton vehicles comprising 98% of traffic that decide that for cyclists that care about survival more than being right.

bigfred 

Ummmm, are we agreeing, disagreeing, or, simply lost in translation?

achoo

Filtering forward might be illegal in your jurisdiction. It's also really dangerous to filter forward to the right of a line of cars where many of those cars are likely to make a right turn - you have a really good chance of being right-hooked if you don't make it all the way to the front before traffic starts to move.

It's also a big F.U. to any drivers annoyed by your presence.

achoo

Which is why it's safer to take the whole damn lane - the decision as to whether or not there's enough room to pass is no longer in the hands of an impatient operator of a 2-ton vehicle going 45 mph - an operator who doesn't really know where the right side of his vehicle is.

When I'm riding and getting squeezed by cars passing me, that's a sign that I'm not FAR ENOUGH in the lane. And I move FARTHER out into the lane if there's no shoulder to safely ride on.

bigfred 

Exactly.

And yet, I still wouldn't hesitate to filter forward past those motor vehicles that have come to a full and complete stop.