this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024

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(CANADA) Cyclist dies after being hit by SUV in Kitchener Monday night (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For those who don't know that area, there are multi-use paths (north and south side) separated from the road on Victoria St, where this cyclist was hit.

For a car to hit someone, they would need to be turning in or out of the business entrances without stopping/looking, which would mean they were at fault 100%.

No charges have been laid, but hopefully this will change.

Far too many cyclists being killed in Ontario. When are we going to take things seriously?

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Kitchener is one of the more bikeable/walkable cities in Ontario and victoria street is one of the better bike lanes for a road of it's size. really sad to see this, the driver would have to have been doing something particularly reckless.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

I think it's a great illustration that no matter how "safe" you make it for cyclists, it will never be safe with motorists wielding multi-ton vehicles nearby.

We just had another cyclist in their 60s die at the hands of a driver the other day in Scarborough. Terrible tragedy for the families of these victims.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

If so, they should spend time in prison and compensate their victims family.

[+] [email protected] -11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Or the biker wasn't riding safely.

Investigation is still open so let's not jump to conclusions.

[–] Isoprenoid 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Here is the section of road that the article points out:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ksovy1GtfntNsBKq6

If he was on the bicycle path then the SUV driver must have been particularly negligible.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, IF he was on the bike path it seems clear the SUV was in the wrong but nowhere in the article does it say if he was on the bike path.

Is this place turning into /r/fuckcars cause damn people, let the investigation finish before making assumptions?

[–] Isoprenoid 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

let the investigation finish before making assumptions

From reading the article, we can infer that the SUV must have been booking it for the cyclist to sustain multiple serious injuries.

This article from 2011 claims that in the case of bike fatalities from bike-motor accidents, it is slightly more likely that it was the motorist at fault.

So I'm going with the driver at fault, it's more statistically likely.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You can 'go with' whatever you want. You're still assuming from nothing.

[–] Isoprenoid 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Me: Here's my reasoning along with supporting evidence.

You: You're still assuming from nothing.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Referring to a article from 2011 doesn't mean you're arguing with reason. You're using facts from 2 years to assume why the SUV was at fault, while the investigation is still going. You really think you're some sort of Columbo don't you?

[–] Isoprenoid 1 points 9 months ago

You okay, mate? It's not that serious.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

IMO, even if the cyclist wasn't "riding safely", the onus of ensuring safe roads should be on the people driving tons of steel at high speeds, as well as the various levels of governments involved in a city's infrastructure. I'm not familiar with the area, but the comment you originally replied to indicates that the infra where the incident happened was bike-friendly (at least for Canadian standards, which are admittedly quite low).

I agree with not jumping to conclusions, but I find odd your decision to jump to the defense of the motorist. No amount of "safe cycling" can protect you from over a ton of metal ramming into you at speed.

(Also, I'm curious as to why you seem to dislike /r/fuckcars. I have a hard time imagining anyone who cycles not being on the fuckcars-bandwagon. I guess people who see cycling purely as a hobby/sport and not a utilitarian means of transportation, because in my experience anyone who cycles around cars long enough usually isn't a fan of them.)

[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What world do you live in where I jumped to the defense of anyone? I merely made an opposite assumption, to prove either assumption could be right and that we shouldn't assume anything unless we get all the facts.

I hate /r/fuckcars but it's pure reactionary garbage where people who seem to not have cars, shit on people who do. Saying guys with large trucks have small penises or no one should ever own a car for any reason etc. It's childish pure and simple.

I live in a city where we have bike paths nowhere near roads so when I cycle in, or scooter in, it's a non-issue. When I drive, I often see cyclists in the middle of the road as if they were a car so they end up blocking traffic. I can see why people hate on both sides, but I don't subscribe to hating someone for doing something different than me. /r/fuckcars embodies that hate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I merely made an opposite assumption, to prove either assumption could be right and that we shouldn’t assume anything unless we get all the facts.

Suggesting that the victim riding "unsafely" was the cause for their death and not the person driving the very dangerous vehicle around other humans kinda is defending the motorist, though. Unless the victim suicidally leaped in front of a moving car (which I doubt, but could happen I guess), saying the manner in which the cyclist was riding is relevant at all is a defense of the driver. I agree we shouldn't necessarily say the motorist was driving recklessly without more context, but even if they weren't being reckless you're still defending them.

I agree that some people take the fuckcars rhetoric too far, but have you seen or heard the kinds of things motorists say about cyclists? Check around FB pages local to you for any posts relating to cyclists, and you'll see people unironically wishing they could murder people with their vehicles. Does this justify shitting on everyone who ever uses a car? Of course not, but I think it explains it a bit. It takes a lot of effort to not make it into an "us vs them" thing when the a lot of motorists see a cyclist simply existing as an attack on their person and their lifestyle.

When I drive, I often see cyclists in the middle of the road as if they were a car so they end up blocking traffic.

This is an infrastructure issue, not an individual issue. If people are opting to be in the middle of the road rather than a bike lane, then what you have is a bad bike lane, not bad cyclists.

Saying guys with large trucks have small penises[...] It’s childish pure and simple.

This I completely agree with, the amount of body-shaming I saw on /r/fuckcars was pretty disgusting. I've always been one to shame people for their idiotic actions and decisions (like driving a truck in an urban area) rather than the imagined size of a body part.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Suggesting that the victim riding “unsafely” was the cause for their death and not the person driving the very dangerous vehicle around other humans kinda is defending the motorist, though

No it isn't.

I agree that some people take the fuckcars rhetoric too far, but have you seen or heard the kinds of things motorists say about cyclists?

Don't care. Just because some people are assholes, that doesn't give anyone else a green light to also be an asshole.

This is an infrastructure issue, not an individual issue. If people are opting to be in the middle of the road rather than a bike lane, then what you have is a bad bike lane, not bad cyclists.

Still assuming from nothing I see. Calgary has almost 1000km of pristine bike paths that do not interfere with the roads. I use them all the time in the non-winter months and it's truly an amazing system. Why some bikers ride on the road is beyond me unless it's the last 1-2 km of their commute where there are no bike paths which is not what I see.

like driving a truck in an urban area

There's nothing wrong with driving a truck in an urban area.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Such a bad take. Even if he was riding recklessly (no indication in the article that he was), would he deserve to die if he was riding along the road on winter? How would that work exactly? Are you imagining him charging at 2 ton truck with a meter high hood?