macteacher

It happened again yesterday in toronto. A Toyota 4Runner made a left turn and slammed into a cyclist killing him. Charges MAY be pending. I always question why I cycle when I hear things like this. On the bottom of the article is the death of another cyclist..doored and thrown onto on-coming traffic where he was killed.

https://www.thestar.com/article/496560

pinkrobe

****ing drivers...

modernjess

These things do not surprise me in the least, But IMHO not riding is not the answer. One can not let fear dictate ones life. Also I feel that in the last year or so as the number of cyclists has increased so has driver awareness of us. That's just my anecdotal experience and unscientific opinion.

You must ride with focus, be visible, and be vigilant. You must always assume every car does not see you and is likely to something dangerous to your well being.

Sadly though, many if not most cyclists I see out there do not ride this way.

MNBiker

Not to be depressing, but here's another cycling death that just occurred in Minneapolis: https://www.startribune.com/local/28234979.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4OW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX. It was a hit and run.

Not much was given in the way of details. It was night time and we don't know if the biker had lights. The road he was on is an urban 4-lane street with the traffic lanes going right up to the curb with no parking lanes. The part he was one is a rather dark downhill stretch. What's really bad is that the driver did not even stop.

macteacher

You are correct. I see so many stupid cyclists out there. Only a handful have any lights on them. I have a total of 7 lights on my bike + 2 reflectors. 5 in the back and 2 in the front with 2 stock wheel reflectors. My eyes are watching everything and everyone out there, but I know that is not the case for the vast majority out there.

Heck I saw a guy a couple weeks ago grab on to the back of a transport truck ..hold the truck with his left hand and his handlebars with the right.... i was speechless, but in no way was I able to catch up to him

jyossarian

That's skitching. I've done that before.

It's too bad those two cyclists won't be going home to their families. I'm glad the T.O. cops said the accident was preventable and that charges would definitely be filed. It won't stop others from driving stupidly, but it's better than no justice at all.

andrelam

I have to agree that we can certainly help control a lot of the dangerous situations that get other cyclists killed. The road near my house is very narrow and there are usually kids and adults our walking and cycling even late at night. This past Saturday night I nearly ran into a kid riding against traffic on his BMX bike wearing dark clothing and not even a reflector on his bike. I had to come to a complete stop and still our distance was closing. and this was a 11:45 PM. The kid was lucky that I was expecting morns like him on the road. These are the kind of cyclist that cause other motorists to get pissed orr and also get themselves killed.

Sadly we can not eliminate all risk. That being said, I only get the Saturday through Sunday paper. In every single one of these I can rear about motorists that are hospitalized or killed in their car. During the Summer months you can also be certain that at least one of those three days has a motor cycle accident with either severe injuries or death. Luckily cycling deaths are rare around here... even if a lot of the cyclists are riding like dumb smucks!

Happy riding,
André

elTwitcho

The article now says they will definately be pressing charges.

Don't question a thing though, death is a reality you have to contend with not just with cycling but in everything you do. This isn't the first and it won't be the last cyclist to get killed by a car and plenty of pedestrians or other drivers get killed by cars as well.

Just be safe and be aware