Dafydd Hughes says he was verbally accosted last week while riding his bike along College Street in Toronto by a driver in a red vehicle.
The incident was captured on camera and shows the cyclist avoiding a utility vehicle attempting to parallel park; the cyclist moves to the centre lane to allow space for the vehicle to back into the parking spot.
The video then shows the cyclist moving to the curb lane; he is then cut off by a red car and an altercation ensues.
“It’s incredibly upsetting,” Hughes said.
“He cut me off and unloaded I guess with some fairly violent abuse.”
The driver can be heard yelling profanities and homophobic slurs at the cyclist.
“I was able to remain calm partially because I knew I was recording the event. I bought a camera a few years ago because this sort of thing was happening,” Hughes said.
In the video, the driver repeatedly asks Hughes if he sees bike lanes in the area, which aren’t present along that stretch of College Street near Ossington Avenue, however, there are shared lane markings, also known as sharrows, that can be seen painted on the side of the road and according to the City of Toronto website, “Shared Lane Markings … are road markings used to indicate a shared environment for bicycles and motor vehicles. The shared lane markings highlight cycling routes, which alert all road users to the presence of bicycle traffic on the street.”
“There is no bike lane there yet,” said Dave Shellnutt, managing partner with the Biking Lawyer LLP.
“Putting a concrete barrier there would drastically reduces conflict points between motorists and vulnerable road users.”
City of Toronto staff are currently looking into extending bikeways along College Street to Lansdowne Avenue.
“It’s really disappointing to hear incidents of road rage like that toward cyclists are happening,” said Jennifer McKelvie, Toronto’s deputy mayor.
“The city has a very ambitious plan to increase the bike lane network in the City of Toronto but we will always have areas where the road is shared by multiple users and everyone needs to be respectful of that shared space on the road.”
Hughes said he was left shaken by the incident.
“I think about the fact that I ride around the city with my family and I’m a commuter and no matter how careful you follow the rules and no matter how careful you are as a cyclist and no matter how safely we cycle, this kind of thing is a pretty common occurrence,” he said.
Hughes has filed a report with Toronto police who are investigating the incident.
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