The grandmotherly woman pointed her middle finger at the cyclist: “Get on the bike path!” »
Posted at 6:54 p.m
David Desjardins has been driving between 300 and 450 kilometers per week in the Quebec region for years.
And there there was another confrontation with a tank driver. This time: a woman old enough to be a grandmother.
Polite response from the L’Actualité columnist: “I have the right to be on the move, lady. »
And it’s absolutely true: cyclists have the right to be on (almost) all roads. Although there is a bike path ten minutes from their location.
The lady’s response: “Damn shit eater! »
For David, the issues of shared cycling in the Quebec region have traditionally been a rural issue. He was patrolled on country roads by madmen. Things are better in the country now, he says.
But recently, teeth brushing in the city and suburbs is now done twice a week. I get yelled at once a week. And every two weeks I meet a crazy person…
David Desjardins, columnist for L’Actualité
A madman?
Someone who decides to play police, he said. Example: “I come to a stop sign, there is no one there, absolutely no one, I slow down and continue on my way.” A guy in a pickup truck chased me, he tried to knock me down three or four times… “
The guy, “completely crazy,” addressed David with the window rolled down:
“Observe the rules!”
– Hey, you’re halfway into the other lane! »
While he was yelling at him, the pickup driver didn’t notice that he veered out of his lane and into the left lane…
Before we continue, a word about mandatory stops. Last week I expressed to you how dissatisfied it is to see cyclists charging into intersections despite a stop sign and riding between pedestrians and cars who have the right of way.
At the corner of my street, the vast majority of cyclists zoom into the intersection without even appearing to slow down.
However…
There are places in the world where the “Idaho stop” is allowed for cyclists: you slow down and continue riding when the path is clear. Simple matter of physics and logic. A complete stop requires a significant amount of energy to get back on the bike.
If every cyclist stops at every stop sign by putting their foot on the ground, they might as well drop the bike and take the gas tank with them.
Yes, I can hear the driver here, who meticulously observes every article of the road traffic regulations, screaming…
I tell him: If I slow down at a stop sign and get a ticket, I will pay it.
But the bike entering an intersection is always less dangerous than the tank – or SUV – entering an intersection.
Firstly, when I arrive at an intersection on my bike, my perception of my surroundings is significantly better than when I arrive at the same intersection with my vehicle.
Secondly, the damn A-pillar that supports the left part of my SUV’s windshield1 creates an extremely dangerous blind spot2 for others…
In short, at intersections as elsewhere, recklessness with the pedal is always less dangerous than recklessness with the engine.
David knew I was going to write about “damn bikes”3 and he contacted me to tell me about his experience riding a bike between cars. As a driver and cyclist, he has seen relationships change. Often for the better, like in the country. Sometimes for the worse, as in the suburbs and the city in recent years.
In recent years, David has noticed changes in the air. An aggressive tone in those who speak to him.
“What do you think happened?”
— It’s a minority, that’s what I want to say. But this minority is angry. “I’ve never seen this before, people running after you to play police while they’re yelling at you…”
David Desjardins has a theory. And he developed it even before the pandemic: “I feel like the lack of civility on social networks has spilled over into reality.” Sitting in a car is a bit like being behind a screen. You are protected. If you try to hit me with your tank on a bike, I won’t be able to catch up with you and I’ll crash into you. Like I can’t find you when you insult me through your keyboard. The social climate has deteriorated everywhere. Everyone who works in customer service says it: Customers have never been so unpleasant…”
And he agrees that driving a tank is becoming more and more difficult and more and more annoying. There is work, there are traffic jams. There are too many… tanks.
“You, the cyclist, are THE thing he can let off steam. You are a perfect target who cannot defend yourself. »
I agree with David’s theory.
In addition, the street is a metaphor for society in which everyone has to share space, whether real or metaphorical.
Sharing space, whether real or metaphorical, is always a little awkward… at first.
And we are still at the beginning of an era in which tanks no longer have a practical monopoly on the roads in this country.