Died on a ride #4, 2009

A 69-year-old cyclist was killed earlier this month in Hamilton in a nearly classic example of the crosswalk peril.

According to a report from the Hamilton Police Service, the man was westbound on a sidewalk when he rode into the crosswalk at an intersection. He was hit by a garbage truck turning right onto the street he had been travelling along.

While I have noted on more than one occasion that some of garbage truck drivers wheel around corners like they are driving sports cars, it is still the cyclist's responsibility to stop at crosswalks and walk across if that person chooses to use the sidewalk as a bicycle trail.

Why are they supposed to stop and walk their bike across? Next time you're in a car at an intersection, try checking left, then right, then left again and imagine if a cyclist was approaching from the right. It's natural for motorists to check left twice, because that's where the major traffic flow is coming from. They aren't expecting fast-moving sidewalk traffic, esp. from their right.

Cyclists, and pedestrians for that matter, seem to feel that the two white lines of a crosswalk bestow upon them some kind of invisible shield of protection. (Ha. Crosswalk lines are just a way to bunch peds together to make a larger target.) It's still up to them to proceed when it is safe to do so.

Comments

[josh]

...a way to bunch peds together...

...in a manner that they are invisible to the right turn lane speeders until it's too late (for driver's who don't stop for red lights).

Walking my bicycle across a street tonight, I found my headlight, handheld, worked well to frighten one red-light's-don't-apply-to-me driver into making a full stop.

Quoting the driver's facial reaction: "Oh, my! What's going on? There's someone there? Walking? Within the crosswalk?"

My hope is that driver will realize it's worth paying more attention to the surroundings and obeying our traffic laws.

[witness]

as the only witness i feel to be fair it should be noted the cyclist rode onto the street while the truck had previously entered the crosswalk to make the turn . Tragically the side of the truck knocked the front tire over and the cyclist with the bike. Riding on the wrong side of the street on the side walk is dangerous for the cyclist and puts them at risk. But the truck driver couldnt see the cyclist . very sad