I was dropping a video off this evening on Gladstone, near Percy, and I noticed that traffic seemed to have come to an unusual standstill. I quickly discovered that a cyclist had somehow been hit by a car, and looked to be pretty hurt.
Now I have no idea who (if anyone) is at fault: I didn’t see the accident so won’t speculate in that regard. It is fair to say, though, that Gladstone is usually pretty quiet along that stretch.
This sort of thing is always very startling, whether you cycle or not. However it did make me realize just how lucky I was when, a few years back I was hit by a car (albeit very slowly) and survived unscathed except for a damaged rear wheel. I was pretty shaken up afterwards (and my bike ended up getting put away a bit earlier that year), but have become somewhat cavalier when telling the story since. No longer.
The past couple of days have seen a lot of the simmering tensions between cyclists play out in the editorial pages of the citizen and on the local blogs (and I’ll weigh in, soon enough). But when you hear about something like this, and see the concern on people’s faces – pedestrian, cyclist, and driver alike, it’s pretty hard not to think how counterproductive that animosity is, when everyone shares the same goal of creating as safe and pleasent an environment as possible. Whether on wheels or feet, we are all in this together, after all.
I hope, obviously, that the gentleman is alright and recovers quickly.
Cycling in Ottawa 
Cycling in Ottawa is dangerous. I tried it for a season and gave up because there were too many close calls with cars cutting me off, veering into me and other stuff. It’s all very nice to say cars need to share the roads with bikes, but it’s not happening. It’s dangerous enough on the roads when you’re in a car, let along on a bike. Other cities have designated bike lanes on every major road – Vancouver even has some with barriers between the bike land and the road. I hate to hear stories like this cyclist getting hit as much as I hate hearing stories about cyclists hitting pedestrians on sidewalks.
I’m not sure I would agree that cycling in Ottawa is dangerous- I certainly have my biases, but think that in general our current path system in the core is pretty good and will only get better as (if) the OCP is implemented. There are certainly streets I avoid at moats costs (e.g. Carling and Merivale), but most of the rest are wide enough that I feel allright.
Safety, however, is ultimately about perception. My level of comfort might be very different than yours. Cycling lanes help offset this, but are no panacea. Not all accidents are prevented by them, and there will always me times when they are unavailable or impractical. On those occasions, people need the skills and confidence to be on the road, less they end up on the sidewalk or get hurt.
I agree that cycling in any city is dangerous, but after living in New York and Toronto, I can say I definitely miss the relative safety of Ottawa.
I was hit July 27 2007 and only got back on a bike in late June 2008. As for concern in motorists’ faces the investigating officer, one PC Ali Rashid #9497 informed me he had witnesses (3) that I fell and as such he had no obligation to record my version of events. Upon filing an foi for his fieldbook notes I learned he never spoke to said witnesses and took heard this second hand from a fire department chief. I paid ~$40 for an accident report only to be informed the fee I paid was for a search and not the report and that he had not filed an accident report despite the incident resulting in 1 week hospitalisation as the result of traumatic injury.
Mock concern would be my consideration. The motorist knew they were had. In my case they couldn’t give a damn. But so goes Caronto.
To Geoffrey – or anybody else seeking legal help relating to cycling in Ontario, but especially Toronto – I would direct to you to Advocacy and Respect for Cyclists, a volunteer group specializing in this area. If nothing else, you could relate your experience to them and they could add it to the catalogue of non-bike-friendly police incidents.
Well done on the FOI request, though!
There are challenges to cycling in Ottawa but these can be overcome by taking a CAN BIKE cycling education course which among other things teaches correct lane positioning on the road so that the cyclist is visible to traffic, handling skills and collision avoidance. CAN BIKE increases the cyclist’s confidence while cycling in all types of traffic and road conditions. I’ve been cycling for more than 15 years and have taken CAN BIKE II the difference in my ability to cycle safely was evident. I highly recommend taking a CAN BIKE course. Obeying the rules of the road also goes a long way toward having a safe cycling experience.
Branding cycling as a dangerous activity has a huge negative connotation and could prevent new cyclists from taking up the activity. There are other words to use when describing cycling in Ottawa please choose your words carefully.
Thankyou Padraic. I did indeed communicate with ARC and they did indeed provide what support they could. They are a volunteer organisation after all and there is a limit to what they can do. Darren was particularly helpful and I owe him a great deal for his efforts. The ARC website is a good place to start for anyone in similar circumstances.
That said I did not fare well with a lawyer. He appeared to look at the case with a great deal of prejudice and seemed to dismiss many pertinent details. Pursuing another lawyer would seem my best course of action but the legal environment the first relayed has left me quite discouraged with respect to outcome.
My lord, there is that bike course stuff again. How about education for DRIVERS!!!!!
THE BIGGER THREAT OUT THERE!!!!
Are streets would be fine if it was all cyclists and pedestrains.
Skin is flexible. Metal is not.
Metal + skin = pain and bruising and/or busted bones! Even death if physics plays its mean ways.
TAKE A PHYSICS COURSE FOLKS!!!
VEHICLES KILL. CYCLISTS DON’T!!!