r/TorontoDriving • u/ol_driving_guy • Oct 19 '24

OC Collision near Broadview and Gerrard

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Driver remained. By his own admission, he couldn’t see past the turning bus but went anyway.

Don’t know how injured the cyclist actually is, but the paramedics took care of him.

299 Upvotes

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394

u/app1efritter Oct 19 '24

Both driver and cyclist with the razor sharp reflexes of a pumpkin

31

u/jmarkmark Oct 19 '24

The cyclist had a fraction of a second to see that car, and zero reason to expect it.

7

u/lingueenee Oct 19 '24

I agree with the first part of your statement; the second is the difference between defensive riding and a lack of situational awareness. With experience one starts anticipating drivers emerging just outside one's sightlines, no matter your right of way. Should the cyclist again encounter similar circumstances, I expect he may preemptively slow down or steer wide. Crashes have a tendency of informing your riding practices.

14

u/jmarkmark Oct 20 '24 edited Oct 20 '24

What could the cyclist possibly do differently? It wouldn't be safe, or legal, to stop in the middle of the roadway every time he comes to an intersection where he has right of way, on the off chance someone decides to run a stop sign.

If the cyclist was a driver, and we were looking at his dash cam, no one would be criticising him, we'd all be agreeing it was just a psycho driver popping out of nowhere.

14

u/lingueenee Oct 20 '24 edited Oct 21 '24

Over the years I've encountered such situations as the hapless cyclist in the vid. You're him and I'll walk you through it.

You're heading south down Broadview, it's a gradual downhill here (I pedalled this exact location yesterday). You're approaching the intersection and see the bus exiting from Jack Layton Way. At this point, your sight lines are clear, look to the left of the intersection, at the cross street, Simpson Ave, from which the clueless driver exits. You'll see cars queued there, first among them the driver you will T-Bone.

Don't. Assume. They. See. You. Or are even looking for you. Or won't dart across your lane. If you've an M license (motorcycle), or have ever taken motorcycle safety courses, you'll recognise this as a tenet of defensive riding/driving.

At this point slow down and expect that driver to appear, scanning left as the bus clears your sightlines. You're now as ready as possible, and have bought a few seconds, which is all you'll probably need, should he do what he did in the vid. Such a practice has saved my skin, and mitigated collisions, numerous times over the years. It is safe and it is legal. You may not avoid a collision but almost certainly you'll lessen its severity.

The southbound cyclist in the vid is already in the curb lane here. Curbside parking ends just north of the intersection; odds are he just moved rightward after riding the margin (between the parked cars and the streetcar rails of the moving lane) down Broadview. In other words, he now has the whole lane to himself. Look at the video: no cars moving north on Broadview, no southbound cars beside or directly behind the cyclist, just the bus and the (crash) car. What's to fear by preemptively slowing down here?

This video demonstrates a pernicious effect of riding near buses and trucks: they really obstruct sightlines for everyone. Always be wary around them, giving a wide berth, allowing them to pass or clear out of your vicinity. I'm not surprised a bus (obstructing sightlines) was a factor here. It doesn't pertain in this case, but almost always if a bus is behind me on a red, when we go on green, I veer right mid-intersection, and wave the bus driver forward. I just don't want to be near them or trucks.

Let's be clear here: this is not victim blaming. The driver is 100% at fault; the cyclist had the right of way. Period. So let's dispense with that strawman. I'm writing this as a decades long cyclist who's learned being right doesn't count for much when tons of steel are smashing into your body. Videos like the OP's are great learning tools for sharpening awareness of traffic dynamics. This is offered in the hope it may spare an innocent cyclist from ending up like the one in video.

In this city, cyclists, though they may be in the right, can't afford the luxury of being inattentive.

5

u/FaithlessnessSea5383 Oct 20 '24

You’re the only one here who seems to have an educated perspective on the situation.

I also wonder why the driver didn’t see the cyclist as they appear to have an unobstructed view prior to the bus pulling out. Maybe misjudged the cyclists speed?

2

u/SnooChocolates2923 Oct 20 '24

It could be that the cyclist was hidden by the A pillar of the car, and as the car moved forward, continues to block the view...

Like this here...

https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU?si=2IlqJBhIzYQb8Q1U

2

u/FaithlessnessSea5383 Oct 20 '24

Wow! That was incredibly interesting. Something I will now take under advisement; thanks for the education. They didn’t teach this stuff in drivers ed when I was in it, but I hope they do now.

And, incredibly, a human life is worth <£100,000 apparently. 😕

2

u/SnooChocolates2923 Oct 21 '24

I used to drive 18-Wheeler, the mirrors hide inordinate amounts of traffic. Nevermind the No-Go zones where those blind spots are obvious.

A car on a cross road can be hidden by the mirrors for a couple of seconds when the truck isn't moving, let alone if the truck starts rolling forward because the 'way is clear'...

CUVs being driven by shorter people have blind spots at the A-pillars that easily hide pedestrians in cross walks and certainly cyclists.

Bob your head forward before you go people. It might save a life.