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Post date: Apr 17, 2011 1:30:35 AM
A cyclist makes his way through traffic along Milton St towards McGill University. Montreal plans to spend $20 million dollars to update the city's bicycle paths. Whether they're driving, cycling or walking, too many Montrealers think they've got the right of way. But someone is wrong
By Jeff Heinrich, Montreal Gazette April 16, 201
Eric Breton says he's often cut off on his bike when drivers turn right on a straight green arrow. Pierre Rousseau deplores that pedestrians cross on red lights, texting on their BlackBerry. Ahmed Mostefaoui thinks cyclists are usually to blame when a taxi hits them. Roland Lavoie is getting tired of moving aside for cyclists to pass him on the sidewalk. Christian Lombard avoids bike paths because they're racetracks for speed freaks. Doris Bérubé says the biggest menace when she cycles isn't people - it's potholes.
Welcome to April in Montreal, when the weather turns warmer, the streets start filling with bicycles - including 5,050 Bixis, which make their re-appearance this weekend - and drivers and pedestrians become aware again that they're not the only ones trying to get around the city. With winter behind them, Montrealers are once again facing the organized chaos of bikes, cars and moving feet that springtime brings.
"When spring arrives, the bikes come out and everyone has to get back into the habit of sharing the road," said Suzanne Lareau, who heads the Vélo-Québec cycling organization. "In winter, there aren't that many cyclists, so drivers are often surprised to see them again when the weather turns nice."
That's when the problems occur - and the blame starts to spread.
Before anyone points an accusing finger at Bixi riders, however, know this: Bixis are involved in very few accidents. The experts say Bixis, like other bikes, have a "traffic calming" effect on city streets. That might explain why, in 2010, the number of bicyclists seriously injured in collisions was way down - 14 fewer than in 2009, according to Montreal city hall and the police - and collisions of all kinds were down five per cent. "People on Bixis are a lot more careful than we (bike owners) are," cyclist Doris Bérubé said. "They move along well."
The problem is attitude, all around.
"In Montreal, we have a big problem of incivility on the roads, whether it be pedestrians or cyclists or drivers," Lareau said. "The lack of civility in Montreal is flagrant. Everyone wants to go first. They forget that the other person often has the right-of-way. It's gotten worse in the last 10 years, but I'd say lately there's a new consciousness that things have got to change."
To that end, as a Montrealer it's a good idea to know some of the most common situations that get people into trouble, whether they be drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or anyone else who uses the streets. They're the times when laws are broken, tempers flare, swear words are muttered - and sometimes yelled. Quick to blame others when they don't get ahead, slow to question their own behaviour when their progress is slowed, Montrealers have a relationship with traffic that is long on self-justification, short on compromise.
The next time you're driving, riding or walking, it pays to know who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Do you?
POTHOLES
They're everywhere, and bikes often swerve to avoid them. So do cars. Everyone needs to watch out.
"There are lots of potholes this time of year - I rode into one yesterday," said Bérubé, who lives in Plateau Mont-Royal, the borough with the highest concentration of cyclists. "I only saw it at the last minute. I was riding along Beaubien near St. Hubert. I'd avoided lots of potholes up to then, but that one, I didn't see. I hit it and my bike went over and I went down. My shoulder still hurts."
SIDEWALKS
Only young kids (under 8 or 9 years old) should be riding their bikes on the sidewalks. Everyone else, stay off - or risk getting a ticket if a cop sees you.
"What I don't like is that the cyclists ride on the sidewalk, often against the traffic," said Roland Lavoie, a retired graphic artist. "I've had to move aside many times to let them pass. I don't say anything, because if I did I'm sure they'd tell me where to go."
RED LIGHTS
Bikes should stop on reds, and so should cars, of course - that's the law. Although it might seem more dangerous for a car to burn a red, if a cyclist does, that can cause an accident, too.
"It really makes driving hard," said taxi driver Ahmed Mostefaoui. "People don't respect the rules of the road; they burn red lights. It forces you to always be on the lookout. When we hit one of them, people think it's always our fault, but in fact it's the cyclists who aren't paying attention."
RIGHT TURNS
A car and a bike approach an intersection: If there's a bike to the right of the car and the light is green, the law says the driver must let the cyclist go through the intersection and then make his or her turn. The bike has the right-of-way, not the car.
"I see it all the time," said Plateau crossing guard Daniel Perron. "A driver wants to turn right and the cyclists don't have much room to pass, and sometimes there's a mishap. May and June, with more cyclists on the roads, that's when it starts to happen."
WRONG WAY
It's illegal to go the wrong way up a one-way street. But if there's no traffic and the street is a quiet residential street, biking advocates say it's okay to go a short distance the wrong way if it doesn't bother anyone. But they draw the line at busy two-lane streets: Don't think just because you're going against the traffic (like pedestrians are told to do) that it's safer. It can be very dangerous, Lareau said, because drivers might not see you in time to avoid a collision.
LIGHTS
Only 25 per cent of bikes in the city have lights. That's a dangerous situation. The law says you should be lit at night - white on the front, red on the back, and of course reflectors on your wheels.
"In theory, the traffic code applies as much to cyclists as it does to drivers," said Cédric Essiminy, Quebec spokesman for the Canadian Automobile Association. In practice, however, cyclists often fail to be good citizens of the road by not wearing lights at night. Little wonder, he said, that one-third of accidents involving bikes and cars happen at nightfall.
BIKE PATHS
Most common accident: A car turns right across a bike path when a bike has priority, and hits the bike. Drivers, check your blind spot; bikes have the right-of-way through an intersection. And cyclists, slow down, especially on busy bike paths - you'll be doing your fellow cyclists a favour.
"I avoid the bike paths as much as I can - when they're busy they're too dangerous," said Christian Lombard, a French immigrant who rides fixed-gear bikes. "I prefer taking the little streets. On the bike paths, there are too many bikes moving at different speeds, and some cyclists ride like they're on some kind of personal racetrack."
WEAVING IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC
It's safer not to bike in the middle of the street. Stick between the traffic and the parked cars to your side; that way you maintain your legal right-of-way when you come to a crossroads.
"You always have to look out for cyclists - they're like drivers who don't follow the rules of the road," said Eric Tremblay, a contractor who gets around in big pickup truck. "If I wait for the arrow to go left, it doesn't matter what happens next - a yellow, a red, a flashing green - those cyclists don't care, they just go through, anyway."
CHILDREN ON BIKES
Bicycling experts recommend that parents ride in front of their children to watch for dangers like car doors opening, and look back often to see they're okay. If they're on the sidewalk, the adults should ride in the street - that's the law.
ELECTRIC SCOOTERS
Even if they have pedals, electric scooters don't belong on bike paths, period, according to Vélo Québec. They're too heavy, accelerate too quickly and go too fast. No problem for motor-assisted bicycles, however, as well as motorized wheelchairs, as long as they go a reasonable speed.
BAD WEATHER
The spring winds can get pretty strong in Montreal, especially if you're heading west, so if you're on a bike, be careful. And if it's raining, pump your brakes.
TRUCKS
Trucks have a huge blind spot. Cyclists should be aware of that, keep a safe distance and not try to pass them on the right if an intersection is coming up. Chances are, drivers won't be able to see a cyclist riding next to them when the drivers want to turn.
iPODS, iPHONES, BLACKBERRIES
Cycling with earbuds is not only dangerous, it's illegal. And if you're walking through an intersection, don't be focused on your smartphone; be focused on the people around you and on getting to the other side. Half the people who die in traffic accidents in Montreal are pedestrians, police say - and often it's simply because they're distracted.
"Pedestrians just aren't paying attention - they're staring at their BlackBerry as they cross the intersection," said Pierre Rousseau, the Montreal police commander in charge of traffic and road safety. "Especially downtown, you get the impression the pedestrians are just following each other as they across the street - their minds are elsewhere," he said.
"People walk and text. They're not looking for the red light. That's when the accident happens."
Bottom line?
Like the Boy Scouts say, be alert. And if you're a cyclist: enjoy.
"It feels great, leaving the métro behind - all the heat, sweat and smells - and being out in the fresh air," said Breton, a translator who has started riding back and forth to work downtown every day now that it's spring.
On his high-performance hybrid bike, decked out in helmet and bright red riding shorts over his tights, Breton stopped for the red at St. Urbain St. and Pine Ave. and watched the heavy traffic flow by.
He drives a car, too, but on his bike he enters a different mode of being. "It's like they teach you in driving school: You have to drive for others. So when you're on your bike, you have to cycle for others, too."
Things used to be a lot worse, before cycling was the popular pastime and commuting choice it is today. Vélo Québec's Lareau likes to joke that when she started out cycling, 30 years ago, there were so few cyclists on the streets of Montreal she could call them out by their name when they passed.
Those were the days, too, when it wasn't unusual for a driver to shout out his window, "Tasse-toi du chemin!" ("Get out of the way!") - and expect the cyclist to move, no matter what.
Today, outright hostility has given way to general acceptance of the presence of bikes as a fact of urban life. If it's true that some drivers still think cyclists "get in the way," not many actually voice it.
The reality today is that everyone's in the same traffic pool together - and has every legal right to be there, within limits. That means knowing not only what to expect (potholes, bad turns, excessive speed, burned reds), it also means knowing what's expected of you. Respect and be respected - it's a two-way street, with everyone headed down it as we head into summer.
"We've got to stop thinking that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are three different species - it's not true," Lareau said.
"We're all the same people. We've got to learn to behave the same, whether we're on a bike, on foot or in a car."
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