Toronto Cyclists

Ed In Mississauga

Ed In Mississauga

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Yes... the GTA's other 2 wheelers...

I had to go downtown today which is a torturous trip at the best of times. Of course, I end up getting gridlocked in traffic (why is traffic so bad on a frickin Sunday????). Having nothing better to do as I'm at a standstill, I'm looking around and watching the bat sh** crazy people on their bicycles. They are tearing all over the place with reckless abandon, completely ignoring any and all traffic rules. They weave in and out of cars in the middle of moving traffic... force pedestrians to have to dodge them... red lights of course, never apply to cyclists... I had a guy shoot through a red light, turn into my lane (going the wrong way!) while I had to slam on the brakes... and then he shoots ME a DIRTY LOOK!!!!

Police are almost always hard and unforgiving on motorcyclist's infractions... seriously, why is carte blanche given to bicyclists??? I'm honestly amazed there aren't more people killed in the city on their bicycles, I can't imagine how many accidents they must cause. Now I'm not saying that ALL cyclist drive this way... but it is most definitely NOT a small minority.

Just my rant of today... tomorrow it will be WHY does a minor accident on the other side of a DIVIDED highway cause traffic on the opposite side to completely back up??????

Serenity now... serenity now...

Drive safe everyone!
 
WOW I can't believe no one's replied to your post yet..I used to live in DT toronto for 5 years. Recently moved out...It was a nightmare in summer.....And now they want to ride right smack down in the middle of Jarvis street...and when they get into an accident with a car cause they are weaving in and outta traffic ,some poor driver's gonna go to jail....just sad
 
Wait until you get a load of the texting cyclists, sometimes with their babies in tow. Bicycle couriers are positively angelic in comparison to the borderline suicidal behaviour most riders display these days. Automobile drivers don't seem to notice since they're texting too. Pedestrians are worse though. They're on par with squirrels as far as predictability goes.
 
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That pretty much sounds like my daily experience, in downtown Toronto. Every now and then, though, some turd really stands out. A couple of weeks ago it was a guy who dove straight out across Church, at Gould, against a red light. He stopped 4 lanes of traffic, dead.

Last summer it was two cyclists who were going the wrong way, side-by-side down the middle of a one-ways street, and expected me to get out of THEIR way.
 
There is a guy who rides down Yonge street around 7:00 to 7:30.
He will take the entire lane and will not let you pass, and if you do, he will scream at you.
He will snake between cars up to a red light and then proceed through the red light only to take the entire lane again slowing traffic.
If you are in your lane and he is behind you, he demands that you pull to the left of your lane so that he can pass on the right.
He is a complete idiot, and I don't know how he has lived this long.
I have seen him for the last 7 years at least.
 
All the power to those that wish to ride a bicycle, but they need to observe the rules of the road and exercise common courtesy to others sharing the road.

Last weekend, i had some aweful cylist experiences in the foor hills north of Fonthill.

1st group were a group that wanted to ride 4-5 wide in front of me. i gave them a honk they moved in, I passed as they all raised their fists shaking them at me while moving to take over the entire road again, while almost riding my wife off the road wo was also passing them, but they didn't pay attention to her..

Then I run into the big ride for cancer. I think it is great that these people chose to do somethng to support a worthy cause and koodos to them. But riding 4 wide and into incoming traffic, not yielding is not cool :angry5:

I tried to evade this pack several times, but we kept coming across them as we made our way in the opposite direction of their travel.

Several times we would get held up at their crossings of road, so I comment to one of the NRP weekend wannabe cops that they are riding dangerously into my lane etc. he tells me "Well they rasied 18 million dollars...." I ask him if that gives them the right to endanger me, themselves and others, so he also explains that many are also cancer survivors. I think this is great and any survival stories are great, but it would be tragic to survive cancer only to be killed riding a bike because you can't follow simple road safety or possibly worse yet kill someone else .


Anyways.... I lost more respect for cyclists that day then ever before. I wish I had asked that cop exactly what the amount was that buys you the right to endanger others. Did they get this right at $5M, $10M....?
 
I used to work downtown, and I actually drove for a living and spend all shift driving through that crazy mess. I definitely empathize that many cyclists are just seem to be asking to get seriously hurt and/or killed.

It's the opposite problem out here 'sauga. I commute to work regularly on my bicycle along a designated bike path, and it's the drivers here who are absolutely clueless. They have so little concept of looking out for bicyclists that they don't even know to look for you before pulling out of a driveway. I can't even count how many times I've almost been road-pizza, and I'm a law-abiding rider.
 
short stop said:
I used to work downtown, and I actually drove for a living and spend all shift driving through that crazy mess. I definitely empathize that many cyclists are just seem to be asking to get seriously hurt and/or killed.

It's the opposite problem out here 'sauga. I commute to work regularly on my bicycle along a designated bike path, and it's the drivers here who are absolutely clueless. They have so little concept of looking out for bicyclists that they don't even know to look for you before pulling out of a driveway. I can't even count how many times I've almost been road-pizza, and I'm a law-abiding rider.
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Well, truth be told, many drivers in downtown T.O. are also clueless. When I drive south on Yonge, I frequently see drivers straddling the line of the bicycle lane south of Front. They're so far over that no cyclist could ever safely get past them, which means that these drivers can't safely pass cyclists either.

And every now and then I see a motorcyclist or scooteristi, doing 50 in the bicycle lane.
 
short stop said:
I used to work downtown, and I actually drove for a living and spend all shift driving through that crazy mess. I definitely empathize that many cyclists are just seem to be asking to get seriously hurt and/or killed.

It's the opposite problem out here 'sauga. I commute to work regularly on my bicycle along a designated bike path, and it's the drivers here who are absolutely clueless. They have so little concept of looking out for bicyclists that they don't even know to look for you before pulling out of a driveway. I can't even count how many times I've almost been road-pizza, and I'm a law-abiding rider.
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Cyclists need to take a page from what some motorcyclists know, ride like you are invisible.

Problem with many(not all) cyclists is they believe the law is on thier side, they have certain right of way that empowers them etc...
But even if you are in the right, it just doesn't do you a lick of good when you are a smear on the pavement
 
suzuki2000 said:
Cyclists need to take a page from what some motorcyclists know, ride like you are invisible.

Problem with many(not all) cyclists is they believe the law is on thier side, they have certain right of way that empowers them etc...
But even if you are in the right, it just doesn't do you a lick of good when you are a smear on the pavement
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Even if the law isn't on their side, it's easier to drum up sympathy when you're pitting the eco-friendly underdog on a bike vs the big-bad car. But you're absolutely right - right or wrong, they're the ones who will get hurt and/or killed in the confrontation.
 
Just wanna say --- Not All Cyclists are idiots. I ride my motorbike but I also ride my bike. There are a lot of crazy cyclists out there but the other day I was riding my motorbike home from work and another guy on a motorcycle rode past me (patiently waiting in traffic) in between the cars on dundas to the front of the line. I thought - wow thats the reason cars don't like us. Yes I wanted to follow behind him but had the respect not too. But if we didn't have idiot cyclists and idiot motorcyle/car drivers we would have less rants to read about and anjoy.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
Last summer it was two cyclists who were going the wrong way, side-by-side down the middle of a one-ways street, and expected me to get out of THEIR way.
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Good one. How about a cabbie and a CROSS COUNTRY SKIER confronting each other after a heavy snowfall? Totally awesome.

Though they weren't cyclists, the two middle-aged women who ran in front of my car (on a red naturally) and taunted me with "the light is green so that means you can run us over" definitely take the cake.

All fun aside, I'm starting to get apprehensive about commuting these days--it really is getting that bad. Sure I try to be careful and unhurried, but I know the driver of that delivery truck in last week's fatal accident. He was a skilled operator. How skilled? At least 10 years of running a 5-ton International around the GTA, without a scratch.

All I can do now is slow down even further and triple check, not that our cratered roads don't suggest it to begin with.
 
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Rebelrider1 said:
Just wanna say --- Not All Cyclists are idiots. I ride my motorbike but I also ride my bike. There are a lot of crazy cyclists out there but the other day I was riding my motorbike home from work and another guy on a motorcycle rode past me (patiently waiting in traffic) in between the cars on dundas to the front of the line. I thought - wow thats the reason cars don't like us. Yes I wanted to follow behind him but had the respect not too. But if we didn't have idiot cyclists and idiot motorcyle/car drivers we would have less rants to read about and anjoy.
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Each side will spew their jingoistic crap and in the end the problems don't get solved because no one wants to admit that there are idiots in each category.

EVERYONE needs to be considerate of everyone else who shares the road. With gas prices being what they are, expect many more bicycles and alternate forms of transportation out there, including in the suburbs. Everyone needs to step up and take responsibility for their behaviour on the road.
 
Definitely enough blame to go around for all drivers of all sorts of vehicles.

I'm teaching my son to drive and I've told him to expect other drivers to do the stupidest thing... many times you'll be pleasantly surprised when they don't, but sadly there are still many times where they will do exactly as you fear.
 
Bicyclists subscribe to the myth that they are legally entitled to a full lane width. Fact is they can use the width of the lane to avoid any hazards beyond the 16 inches to the curb, not riding in the middle of the lane anytime the feel like it. But try talking sense to a cyclist that doesn't have a driver's license (and most downtown cyclists don't) and they'll call you a murdering motorist. Then there are those damn skateboarders.
 
cyclist need their own lane similar to what they have in montreal. I personally think its crazy to NOT have bike lanes given the city has those bicycle rental locations.
 
a group that wanted to ride 4-5 wide in front of me. i gave them a honk they moved in, I passed as they all raised their fists shaking them at me while moving to take over the entire road again, while almost riding my wife off the road then, for me, I pulled into a gas station a few miles down the road.. and I had forgot about them... while I was gassing up,, this guy starts to chirp in my face .. schooling me how to share the road with bikes! ? LOL.. So.. I said,, he can demand I share the road.. or he can ride so he doesn't get killed,, or kill my wife... take his choice.. and his response was he was going to ride the same,, wished me a good day and started to ride off the way I was heading,,lol so.. I gave him heads up,, that it wouldn't bother me a bit to do it again... HE SAYS he'll call the cops! .. lol... ya.. I said.. as a blood smear on the road.. ?? someone else will be calling EMS ... and he will still be in a world of hurt,, or worse. so I just said.. for my wifes sake .. don't ride at 40km/hr 5 wide in an 80km/hr zone... unless he wants to know what a deer feels like... and then I insisted he HAVE a good day! :-)
suzuki2000 said:
Cyclists need to take a page from what some motorcyclists know, ride like you are invisible. Problem with many(not all) cyclists is they believe the law is on thier side, they have certain right of way that empowers them etc... But even if you are in the right, it just doesn't do you a lick of good when you are a smear on the pavement
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There are a lot of cyclists on snake rd out where I live and they often ride 2 and 3 wide or more and do not get in single file when a car approaches which is what they are supposed to do. My mom passed a group of them today and honked to let them know she was passing and when she stopped at the next stop sign they lit into her and then proceeded to run the stop sign. I don't really understand what could be going through their minds when they act like that. They are going to piss off the wrong people and become hood ornaments.
 
RetroGrouch said:
Bicyclists subscribe to the myth that they are legally entitled to a full lane width. Fact is they can use the width of the lane to avoid any hazards beyond the 16 inches to the curb, not riding in the middle of the lane anytime the feel like it. But try talking sense to a cyclist that doesn't have a driver's license (and most downtown cyclists don't) and they'll call you a murdering motorist. Then there are those damn skateboarders.
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http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/cycling-guide/section3.0.shtml

cyclists have one metre (a lot more than the 16" you suggest) from the curb, and in some situations are fully permitted the full lane. . .fyi
 
Hahah we had a thread like this blocked in an other forum im on..the discussion was changing into a "what id do to them" thread lol.

IMO cyclists shouldnt be creating a traffic jam
Ie. Lakshore rd in mississauga (between clarkson and port credit)
The lanes are wide(r) and can let a cyclist ride easily near the side without being touched by cars. Of course there are cars that dont know their distances so they will swoop too close to them or start semi-changing lanes while passing them.

But when the rider(s) decide to take up the whole lane, a whole clusterfok is created where people from right lane want to switch to the left but people in the left go too fast for the 40kph guy on the right (following the bicycle) to merge...
Traffic jam and people get mad at the cyclist(s).

The fact that theyre blowing through reds is just beyond belief...How much money + demerit points is it to blow a red while in a car /motorbike? Then same thing for stop signs (although some of them have pedal clips and i almost can understand...)
If they were to be ticketed equally, i think we'd eliminate a lot of their cost effectiveness lol
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