Editor:
Re.: South Delta Crime Beat, Aug. 13, “A cyclist reported being tailgated by an aggressive driver.”
As the cyclist that was party to the ‘incident’ on Aug. 3, I wanted to add a few comments. Perhaps due to space constraints, the description of the event does not even remotely describe what occurred.
Shortly after 11 a.m. on Aug. 3, I was riding west on Ladner Trunk Road and had just passed the Harvest Drive intersection. Despite traffic being minimal, a driver in a black Dodge Ram chose to gun his engine and roar past me close enough that his mirror was mere inches away while yelling out the windows something about cyclists.
Admittedly and regrettably, I responded with the “one-finger salute” at which point he slammed on his brakes. As I was clipped into my peddles, I couldn’t stop quickly and safely enough and I was able to (safely) pass him on the left as there was no traffic.
In a clear fit of road rage, he continued to scream about cyclists and that this road was not a bike lane. Once I was safely past him, he hit the gas and shot forward almost hitting me again before I was able to turn right on 57 St. to try to exit the situation.
He turned right as well and again sped past me at extremely close distance yelling profanities. Fortunately, I was able to get his plate number and called the police.
This incident was extremely dangerous and frightening to me and it was so blatant and deliberate that it was noticed by others. A family leaving McDonald’s witnessed it, turned around, came to my aid, and stayed long enough to offer corroboration of the events to police; they were certain that I was hit not once, but twice.
Another person reached out to me later to tell me they had seen what happened from the Esso station and offered to bear witness. Unfortunately, I do not believe the incident was taken as seriously as it should have; the officer neither took a statement nor any personal information from the witness. When I called the next day (as I hadn’t heard back as to any resolution) the officer told me he had spoken to the driver and had simply warned him. The drivers’ story was, as one might expect, different to mine and vastly minimized his actions (apparently his ‘quick stop’ was simply to see if I was okay).
We all need to remember that motorists and cyclists both share the roads.
Cyclists have the right to use roadways as defined under the Motor Vehicle Act (Chapter 318, Part 3, 183, “Rights and duties of operator of cycle”) and must ride as far to the right as possible in single file to facilitate the continuous movement of vehicle traffic.
Vehicles should, where and when possible, pass cyclists leaving as much space as possible even if that requires that they change lanes; if not possible to give sufficient wide berth, motorists should not pass until safe.
In Delta, as with many other cities, cyclists are not permitted to ride on sidewalks (Corporation of Delta Bylaw No. 6922, Section 9.12 (a)), leaving them the only option to ride with vehicles. Like many cyclists, I endeavour to choose my route to minimize my exposure to busy roads and roads without dedicated space for bikes; these are, however, not always possible to completely avoid.
If we all follow the rules and are considerate of one another, there should not be any issues.
Mark Schoeffel
