ajay677

Cyclist activism reared its head here in Canada's motor city today. A group of cyclists protested outside the provincial court building, demanding safe accomodations on the roadway.

Inside the courthouse, a Windsor, Ontario man was facing a judge for hitting a teenage cyclist and fleeing the scene. The incident occured in August 2006. The teenaged cyclst was returning home from work in the early morning hours when he was struck from behind by an SUV, suffering a broken pelvis and facial injuries. Witnesses and the victim reported that the driver of the SUV drove a short distance down the road, u-turned and returned to the scene. The driver of the SUV then leaned out the window and screamed at the injured cyclist to "Get the fu*k off the road!" The driver then fled the scene.

genec

Only one solution for this guy that can't seem to share the road. Take him off the road.

Falkon 

yeah, break his ****ing kneecaps

Eli_Damon

What is this about "safe accommodations"? The accommodations weren't the issue. Are people going to sue the city government, saying that it was at fault for the kid's injuries?

Bikepacker67

It really irks me when posters don't link to the story.

Bruce Rosar

Given that pedal-vehicles are legally defined as "devices" in some jurisdictions, perhaps the law which applies in that provincial court defines people who attack others with a motor-vehicle as "accommodations"?

LittleBigMan

If this is proven in court, he's toast. May be a cause for an expensive lawsuit, to boot.

ajay677

No story to link to. I work near the courthouse and saw the protest. Later talked to court services constables when they picked up a prisoner at my facility.

Bikepacker67

No wonder I can't find diddly on Google.

BTW, what threw me, was that your description of the incident sounded exactly like it was cut-n-pasted from a news article.

Do you work as a reporter?

ajay677

Doubt it. Protest purpose appears to be twofold. One, a public presence of cyclists while this a$$clown was in court. "Safe accomodations" was just a convenient way to describe their demands and signs. Second, there is ongoing debate in this city about installation of bicycle lanes on Riverside Drive, a scenic route that follows the course of the Detroit River. The road is populated by the some of the most affluent people with the most expensive homes in this region, who bitterly oppose losing part of "their" yards to bicycle lanes. Without starting a debate about the pro and cons of bike lanes, the protesters were using this hit and run as an example of why bike lanes are needed.

ajay677

The protest was small, 10 people or so. It didn't make the local paper. There was brief coverage on the evening news Tuesday, but Google wouldn't have that.

Not a reporter. I work in a youth detention facility.

Bikepacker67

I suppose that's even more demanding of the "ability to communicate clearly" skillset.

Bikepacker67

Anybody know the name of the perp?
That should be googleable.

ajay677

Here's a link to the original story. Unfortunately you need to be a subscriber.

https://www.canada.com/windsorstar/ne...3-dbc823a65ba8

ajay677

Check the bottom of the article.

https://www.canada.com/windsorstar/ne...a-6ff70bf66097

DCCommuter

1. I don't see a lack of a bike lane as the problem in this case.

2. Why protest outside the courthouse. It would be far more effective to be observers in the courtroom.

John E

Let's hope so.

tomg

sorry if this was asked above, but what lighting were bicyclists using at 3am? were these bikers "lit-up" with lights? riding with traffic?
when i toured Nova Scotia (1985), there was an evident set rule that bike/peds had the right of way. what's going on up there 2 decades later?
again, sorry for potential repeat questions (if given)!
tomg ( s nj - usa)

Bekologist

glad the cyclist didn't die from this blatant attempt at murder.

was there a small group of VC counterprotesting how the rider simply needed to be further in the lane to get this bad drivers to just disappear?

sounds like a case of angry asshat of what they thought was a 'privledged' class of people. wealthier drivers seem to be the more manevolent out on the roads.

i think there could always be renegade justice if this loser walks with a light sentence. ride by his house or work and pop all his tires once a month with a screwdriver.

tomcryar

why would you advocate that...you don't know the whole story...........

Bekologist

i think running a bicyclist over, driving back, screaming 'get out of the effin' road' and then leaving the scene, is about all the story I need, personally, to advocate a little renegade justice if local bicyclists feel it necessary in their community.

i mention the screwdriver and the tires because it is simple, quick and effective. use a phillips head.

Wogster

In Ontario, Canada a bicycle is defined as a vehicle, according to the Highway Traffic Act.

ajay677

I don't know what lighting the cyclists were using.

Note here that the motorist hit only one of the cyclists, the front most one, from behind. The second cyclist says he was only a few feet behind the lead bike. I'm very familiar with the interesection where the accident occurred. It is on my daily commute. Tecumseh Road is a 4 lane arterial with a speed limit of 50-60km/h It is one of the busiest roads in Windsor, Ontario. It is extremely well lighted, Especially at the intersection in question as there is a car dealership on one corner, a large Italian club on the opposite and a funeral home on a third corner. Lots of bright overhead lighting here from the streetlights and the lighting from these business parking lots. In the eastbound lanes the road here does go from a standard width lane to a WOL. There should have been a great deal of room for overtaking traffic to pass safely. Also note the time of the incident - 3:30am. Alcohol involvement is possible but we'll never know as the driver fled the scene, a common occurrence here when alcohol is involved.

Here's another source of information about this incident:

https://voiceofwindsor.org/?cat=4

ajay677

All he's charged with is leaving the scene of an accident causing bodily harm. At worst, he'll be fined, maybe get community service.

In Canada, you can kill someone while driving drunk and get nothing but community service, house arrest for a few months and a license suspension. The juvenile justice sytem is even worse but I better not get started with that.

ItsJustMe

It DOES NOT MATTER what the circumstances of the accident were. Even if the guy was riding a black bike with black rims wearing black clothing and blacked out his face, the fact is that the car driver HIT him, KNEW he hit him, KNEW that he injured the guy seriously, then drove away.

Had he stopped to render assistance, depending on the circumstances he should probably have gotten anything between nothing (if proven that the guy was essentially invisible and completely in the wrong) to a reckless endangerment sentence (probably suspended or light time seeing that the guy didn't die) and I'd have very little problem with that.

Once he decided to drive away, it's felony hit-and-run and I hope he gets sent up for a couple of years. The fact that he took the time to go back and yell at a guy he just hit makes me hope for something unfortunate to happen to him while he's in jail.