On a Sunday morning bike training ride with three of my senior cycling friends, we were caught up in a potentially dangerous cycle/truck road-rage incident. We were just finishing up our Errington training ride and looking forward to the coffee break before heading home. We were lucky that the incident didn’t lead to disaster and serious injury.
Take two impatient, anti-cycle drivers, add in four, wanna-be Tour de France cyclists, riding with the presumption that the road is meant only for them, stir in some hot-tempered ego and you’ve got the recipe for a regrettable accident.
The two vehicle drivers certainly seemed distraught that cyclists would be using “their” road on a Sunday morning and pushed the limits on road rage. Not helping were four cyclists who showed total disregard for the cycling rules of the road as set out in the BC Motor Vehicle Act 1996 C 318 Part 3 section 183 Rights and duties of operator of a cycle 2c & d, by failing to ride single file on the right-hand side of the road, instead riding three abreast and not yield the right of way to the vehicles.
By riding two and three abreast, in the center of the right lane, they forced the impatient drivers to cross the single yellow line while going up a hill with limited vision of oncoming traffic. Both drivers laid on the horns excessively as if to say ‘get the hell off the road.’
By the actions of these cyclists, those of us who enjoy our rides and respect the rules of the road were placed in danger not of our making, with possible serious consequences.
All of us who use our great country roads for training and commuting, road cyclists and vehicle drivers alike, need to show equal respect for each other before an incident such as this ends in disaster.
David Christian
Qualicum Beach