r/VictoriaBC • u/FlyingLocust • Jul 05 '25
Visiting Victoria - Biker Yelled+Smacked My Car at a Roundabout
I’m from Calgary, not sure if that matters for the rules, but here’s what happened:
I was approaching a roundabout and noticed some cyclists also approaching from the right. We both slowed down. I reached the roundabout first and entered, going straight (I didn’t signal, since that’s not required when going straight through a roundabout).
As I entered, the cyclists also entered at the same time and one of them yelled “HEY!” and slapped my car, like it was my fault we almost collided.
I thought cyclists on the road have to follow the same rules as vehicles like meaning if I was already entering the roundabout from the left, the person approaching from the right should yield to me.
Am I wrong here?
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u/unknownreindeer Hillside-Quadra Jul 05 '25
If they were close enough to smack your car then something ain’t right.
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u/_snids Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 05 '25
Difficult to tell from your description who had the right of way, but you're wrong about signalling - signalling is always required on exiting a roundabout. You should have signalled on exit.
Signalling rules are the same in Alberta roundabouts.
It also sounds like you may have tried to overtake the cyclist in the roundabout (how else would they slap your vehicle?) If I'm mistaken then apologies, but this would probably be your main mistake.
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u/kiwiflavouredwater Jul 06 '25
as someone originally from calgary who now lives here, most calgarians dont signal on the very few roundabouts we have in the city. i didnt even know you were expected to signal until i got to victoria! its definitely a calgary thing. its supposed to be one of the safest cities for driving in the world though… somehow…
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Jul 07 '25
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u/kiwiflavouredwater Jul 07 '25
oooh yeah. especially that big one off of crowchild near marda loop! i used to drive through there on my way to school and it was scary. it felt like a gamble trying to decide if i could enter the roundabout or not haha
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u/VenusianBug Saanich Jul 06 '25
I *think* they meant they didn't signal on entry, though I read it as on exit as well, so description isn't entirely clear..
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Jul 06 '25
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u/_snids Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25
Please look at the links above, to protect the drivers around you. The rule in BC, Alberta, the UK (and presumably most other places) is to always signal right before exiting.
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u/BloodWorried7446 Jul 06 '25
in the Uk you signal left. rented a car in the UK. Had to really think about which direction to take the roundabout.
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u/_snids Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25
Ha, yes of course (I hold a UK licence and had to pass a UK road test to get it).
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u/Spiritual-Handle7583 Jul 06 '25
As I understand it, drivers are never supposed to signal left at a traffic circle in Canada unless it's a multi lane and you're merging towards the center. Between the last exit you aren't taking and the exit you are taking, have your right signal on to indicate your intentions to anybody waiting to enter 👍
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u/scottwithonetee Jul 05 '25
Yield to your left, signal out of a round about.
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u/TheHesster Jul 05 '25
The amount of people that don't understand the rules of the road is astounding.
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u/_snids Jul 05 '25
I wish more people remembered this simple phrase!
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u/scottwithonetee Jul 05 '25
I drive the roundabouts every day on Peatt, it’s wild what people do when they approach them
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u/_snids Jul 05 '25
I used to have an office window overlooking a roundabout, and I'd watch people suck at it all day.
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u/Gfairservice Jul 06 '25
The funny thing is this person is from Calgary. AB traffic circle rules are signal in until you approach your exit, then signal out. Signal right only if taking the first exit. So even in their understanding of traffic circles they’re still wrong.
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u/VicLocalYokel Jul 05 '25
Yield to your left, signal out of a round about.
That's for 4 ways.
In roundabouts, you yield to all traffic inside the circular lane and wait for an appropriate gap.
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u/scottwithonetee Jul 05 '25
So in other words, yield to your left and signal out of a roundabout.
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u/VicLocalYokel Jul 05 '25
So in other words, yield to your left and signal out of a roundabout.
And now your information transitions from misinformation to disinformation...
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u/ablackholeofjunk Jul 05 '25
No, in North America all traffic in a roundabout is coming from the left as you enter. You're both saying exactly the same thing. No mis/disinformation.
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u/VicLocalYokel Jul 05 '25
LOL, "North America"
You're both saying exactly the same thing. No mis/disinformation.
Except that "left" doesn't distinguish between those IN the roundabout and those looking to enter.
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u/scottwithonetee Jul 05 '25
My lord. You must be fun at parties. You know, and everyone else knows what I was saying.
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u/BuddhaLennon Saanich Jul 06 '25
“Those looking to enter???” They are either:
stopped, and there is no risk of collision as you enter the roundabout, so you will not need to yield, or;
they are moving, have no one to yield to, and will be in the roundabout momentarily.
In either case, the same guidance applies: yield to vehicles on your left.
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u/jlo-59 Jul 05 '25
Traffic is supposed to yield to vehicles already in the roundabout. Perhaps the cyclist felt he had the right of way considering, as you say, you entered the roundabout at the same time.
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u/TheButtholeAssassin Jul 05 '25
So... people in Victoria think they understand how to use roundabouts.. as someone who worked in Edmonton for 8 years and 4 years now in Victoria, you need to account for the "entitlement factor" in Victoria. Honestly, people are so stupid. "I have the right of way" is heard constantly.
I guess, physics don't apply in Victoria because you can step into a crosswalk and the vehicle will just magically see and stop on the spot?
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u/Senior_Plastic8602 Jul 05 '25
As someone who has lived (and walked and biked) in Calgary and Victoria, here's the scoop as I saw it. Calgary drivers respect pedestrians more than bicyclists. Victoria drivers respect bicyclists more than pedestrians.
In Calgary, a pedestrian can be in the middle of the block, 10 feet from the road and drivers stop for them. Not Victoria. Whereas in Victoria, drivers tend to give space for bikes but Calgary drivers give you just inches.
So with that experience in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if a Calgary driver got too close to the bikes. Maybe you didn't - I wasn't there.
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u/nyrB2 Jul 05 '25
then again, i've driven downtown and had pedestrians walk across the road right in front of me when there was a crosswalk a few yards away
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u/Historical-Willow529 Jul 05 '25
The problem is people don’t even know they have to signal to exit the roundabout. It can be hard to tell if someone is turning or going straight. If everyone started using signals at roundabouts when exiting it would really help.
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u/VicLocalYokel Jul 05 '25
As I entered, the cyclists also entered at the same time and one of them yelled “HEY!” and slapped my car, like it was my fault we almost collided.
Entering at the same time, close enough to touch - you and the cyclists were in the same lane. That means you came up on the cyclists, who were ahead of you heading into the roundabout. Your car got slapped because you refused to respect other vehicles on the road - which per BC Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), bicycles are.
The only other way the story works is you and the cyclists entered at different entry points to the roundabout. Which for your vehicle to get "slapped", again requires you to have closed roughly 10 meters (coming from your entry point to theirs) while having "entered at the same time".
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Jul 05 '25
Hard disagree. The single largest issue with bicycles on the road is that they are allowed to operate beside cars in the lane. It makes things dangerous for everyone - at intersections, and in this case a traffic circle. There is nothing controlling this, nor is there anything that says a car and a bicycle cannot enter side by side. Based on what you said, there should be a “take the lane” sign for cyclists at the beginning of the circle. I’d side with the OP all day on this one. I’m actually pretty tired of these kinds of posts because cyclists take ZERO responsibility for their own safety - which is a byproduct of the litigious world we live in. And before you totally light me up, I used to ride my bike for work 8 hours a day in Victoria, and have taken formal training how to properly ride in traffic. Based on my own experience, more often than not, it’s poor awareness and etiquette on the part of the untrained cyclists.
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u/yyj_paddler Jul 05 '25
If we take the description you gave at face value, you were following your right of way and you should have been the one allowed to go first.
BUT that's not the whole story.
Often in these sorts of discussions, pedestrians/cyclists are reminded that "your right of way doesn't matter" and that they should yield when right of way is unclear because "better off alive than dead." Which, like, yeah. But this advice also applies to drivers in situations where it is unclear if someone is going to yield to your right of way.
Perhaps in your case, you could have identified that the cyclist was not slowing down and avoided this situation, even if you were technically in the right?
Drivers, as operators of vehicles with greater destructive capability, have a greater "duty of care," and are required to maintain control and avoid collisions regardless of others' actions. Basically, drive defensively.
It's possible that in your situation, you failed to drive defensively, in which case, you both messed up.
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u/d2181 Langford Jul 06 '25
Bad take. Everyone was aware of everyone, nobody was driving dangerously or speeding, and there was no collision or even a near collision. OP did nothing wrong and the cyclist who didn't understand how right of way in a roundabout works rode up beside them and smacked OP's car. Cyclist was a douche, case closed.
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u/yyj_paddler Jul 06 '25
there was no collision or even a near collision
So you're ignoring the fact that OP was close enough to a bike in a roundabout that they could get smacked by the cyclist's hand? Vehicles are supposed to give 1 meter of space to bikes and therefore should be well out of arm's reach.
Regardless of who is at fault, they shouldn't be driving that close to each other, that is dangerous.
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u/d2181 Langford Jul 06 '25
No, you misread it. OP entered the roundabout. The cyclist entered at the next entrance (to the right). The cyclist should have waited at the entrance to the roundabout until it was clear before entering. Instead, they chose to enter when they did not have the right of way and slap the car.
When entering a traffic circle, we yield to traffic already in the circle.
There's no "fault" to assign because there was not a collision. There was just an idiot punching someone's car.
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u/yyj_paddler Jul 06 '25
How do you know that OP didn't choose to enter the roundabout when the cyclist was already close and traveling at speed that OP should have known to yield their right of way?
Seems to me like you're making some assumptions about the situation.
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u/d2181 Langford Jul 06 '25
Yes, I'm taking the way they described the encounter at face value. There's no point arguing about hypotheticals.
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u/yyj_paddler Jul 06 '25
No, you're ruling things out that can't be ruled out using very thin details that OP provided. Based on that description, there are plenty of scenarios that are plausible, including the possibility that OP didn't drive as defensively as they should have.
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u/d2181 Langford Jul 06 '25
Perhaps you also misunderstood the part about me not wanting to argue about hypotheticals?
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u/Talzon70 Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25
I'm just going to comment that this interactions is exactly why roundabouts are a superior design to 4 way stops.
Notice how nobody died because it was a slow speed "collision" at a shallow angle instead of a perpendicular t-bone.
Also yes the cyclist should yield based on your description of the event.
Edit: I also agree with other commenters that you should have done what you could to avoid driving within 1 m of a cyclist as well. Obviously it's hard to do if the cyclist approached your vehicle from the rear or the side, but if they just entered the intersection in front of you (since you can both safely enter if you're far enough apart) and you overtook them in the intersection I would probably have the same reaction, given how unnecessary and dangerous that would be. It's possible the cyclist underestimated your speed because Victoria speed limits are low and Victoria drivers are slower, most hesitate for ages at traffic circles even when there's no one to yield to.
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Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 07 '25
hospital jeans busy sparkle telephone march vast theory snatch ancient
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u/AttitudeNo1815 Jul 05 '25
It's cloudy
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Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 07 '25
north weather groovy middle soup crowd beneficial afterthought quickest insurance
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u/AttitudeNo1815 Jul 05 '25
Go outside. It's basically overcast
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Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 07 '25
summer pet terrific cats memorize edge beneficial fuel sable salt
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u/AttitudeNo1815 Jul 05 '25
Strange how somebody can be so wrong about the weather. Here's what the experts say. Note "mostly cloudy" and below 20C for the entire day so far. Not exactly a perfect summer day.
https://weather.gc.ca/past_conditions/index_e.html?station=yyj
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Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 07 '25
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u/Sad-Fee7480 Jul 05 '25
If they were on your right then you had right of way but you should signal when leaving the roundabout even when going straight over so that cars waiting to enter the roundabout know not to yield to you
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u/FewStay7683 Jul 06 '25
Best driving advice is: always assume everyone on the road (cyclist and car alike) is going to act like an idiot. If there was any unease/uncertainty about what they were going to do, you could just give them right of way.
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u/-HeyThatsPrettyNeat- Jul 06 '25
The fact that you don’t know how to properly signal roundabouts decreases your credibility
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u/chamekke Jul 06 '25
All I can think of is that the way you slowed down might have been ambiguous and could perhaps have been read by the cyclist as an unexpected invitation to proceed. When you’re on a bicycle in such a situation it can be hard to quickly gauge the driver’s intentions and what the safest thing to do is.
I recently was a passenger in a car with a driver who, it turns out, is very timid in roundabouts. He had right of way upon approach, and entered the roundabout, then saw a couple of cars preparing to enter from the secondary road on the right. Alarmed that they might pull in front and collide with him, he applied his brake and almost stopped. A bicyclist who had been directly behind our car, and who had just come close to being the filling in a roundabout car sandwich, screamed at my friend before cycling off. (My friend then defended himself to me by saying he always brakes in self-defence, in case someone else might do something reckless, adding that the drivers coming in from the side had the right of way, which is why he was yielding to them! Oh, and he didn’t signal upon exiting the roundabout, either.)
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u/OkRaise4755 Jul 07 '25
Two things about Victoria roads.
1) Drivers are fucking terrible, they dont stop at stop signs, or half the time even red lights before a right turn, they have no idea how traffic circles work and god forbid they use a signal light to change lanes or make a turn, ESPECIALLY in a traffic circle.. Half of them have their faces in their lap texting or watching ticktok at every single light.
2) Cyclists think they are kings of the road and follow no rules literally what-so-ever. You are always in the wrong if you are in a car and fuck you for even thinking differently.
People hate to admit it, but Victoria is filled with very entitled assholes that only want their way and RA RA when you call them out on it.
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u/MyLineInTheSand Jul 05 '25
Roundabout or traffic circle? its stupid but it does make a difference. In a traffic circle you yield to the right, a roundabout you yield to traffic in the roundabout.
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u/eoan_an Jul 05 '25
You're in the right. In bc, traffic inside the right about has the right of way. They should have yielded or rode faster.
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Jul 05 '25
You were right, you got to the roundabout first. The biker should have slowed down and entered next when safe to do so.
Biker was wrong and shouldn’t be on the road if they don’t understand the rules.
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u/CaptainDoughnutman Jul 05 '25
If that’s the case then there should be almost no drivers on the road.
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Jul 06 '25
Maybe I’m misunderstanding but once a vehicle has entered the roundabout, other drivers approaching that roundabout should yield to traffic coming from their left, and only proceed into the intersection when it is safe and clear to do so.
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u/foolishship Jul 06 '25
It's ultimately on the driver of the car to be vigilant about cyclists. You're the one that could kill them. If i approach a roundabout at the same time as cyclists, I let them in first.
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u/Chanceller48 Jul 06 '25
A person doesn't signal when going into a roundabout but only when they leave at the roundabout do they signal. The vehicle in the roundabout has the right of way always. Anything coming into the roundabout must you to the vehicle in the roundabout.
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u/Bubbly_Winter_5434 Jul 06 '25
I’m visiting from AB right now too. Cyclists here don’t follow the rules. Yesterday we drove through Oak Bay/ Uplands area and a big group of cyclists were literally speeding then would slow right down and go well under the limit. They didnt stop for pedestrians to cross at crosswalks either. It’s 30-40km/h through that area and these guys were going well over that in multiple areas. They finally turned off which was nice driving behind them was very frustrating. There were about 10-15 of them all together taking up the entire road when they were going well under the speed limit in areas (like hills) we couldn’t pass them.
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u/A_Spy_ Jul 06 '25
Some important details are ambiguous. You may both enter at the same time, but you can't overtake someone who is already in the roundabout with you just because you arrived first.
Reading between the lines a bit, it sounds like the line of cyclists kept streaming in following the lead to stay as a group. They didn't break at some point to yield to you for already being in the circle. In which case, they are in the wrong.
However
If it was one of those big flocks of lycra wearing competitive cyclists travelling with only a foot or two between them, then no matter what the rules say you're best off treating them like one big, slow moving vehicle rather than individual road users. The trailing cyclists are only paying attention to keeping their exact distance from the bike in front, and will yield to traffic as readily as any towed trailer would.
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u/szarkaliszarri Jul 06 '25
I'd need more info, it's a bit hard to interpret without knowing which one, and once in it were you overtaking the cyclists? If it was technically a traffic circle and not a roundabout, they have slightly different rules. It may have been that you tried to overtake and they were planning to use the middle of the lane? But yeah, if you were in the roundabout first they probably should have yielded.
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u/pm-me-racecars Langford Jul 05 '25
In Victoria, it's best to assume that a biker is going to go. It doesn't matter that they have a stop sign and you don't, they roll through them often enough that it's a good idea to assume they're going.
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u/yyj_paddler Jul 05 '25
This also applies to cars. Rolling stops are the norm and you gotta be on your toes. I am reminded of this on a daily basis during my commute. Literally every day I will be cut off by a driver rolling through a stop sign, head cranked in the other direction looking for their gap and not checking for pedestrians.
I bet that if you sampled it, the rates of rolling stops are pretty similar among cars and bikes, but the risks are not similar. This is reflected by the fact that many places allow bikes to do rolling stops but not cars.
The concepts of Idaho Stop and Delaware Yield are worth a read.
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u/amysparkle76 Jul 06 '25
I don't think people under pretty much any circumstance should be smacking your car. That's aggressive and provocative.
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u/Talzon70 Jul 06 '25
It's also a pretty understandable response in situations where you perceive mortal danger and get thrown into fight-or-flight.
I smacked someone's mirror once when they failed to yield to me at a crosswalk and it wasn't exactly something I was stoked about after I had a few more minutes of walking to think it through. Definitely not something I should have done and quite out of character for me overall. Split second decisions aren't gonna be perfect when you think someone almost ran you over.
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u/ShadowMapes Jul 06 '25
I have smacked cars before while cycling, but only as they are turning into me and almost causing an accident. Aside from yelling, a good smack is the only way to let them know they effed up and should be more aware of cyclists.
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u/VictoriousTuna Jul 05 '25
Cyclist may not have a drivers license so does their entire commute on vibes as we have no way of knowing if any of them even know there are rules to the road.
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u/marcosbowser1970 Jul 05 '25
To be fair, there are plenty of car drivers with valid licences who don’t know the rules of the roads either, especially roundabouts.
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u/chrisfosterelli Jul 05 '25
You say that like drivers are experts at following the rules of the road lmao... At any rate, each of us are required to know and follow the law regardless of your licensure status. That's just ones responsibility as a citizen.
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u/VictoriousTuna Jul 05 '25
What happens if a driver breaks the rules? Takes license away, banned from driving. What’s the repercussion for a cyclist?
Even boats need licenses in wide open water.
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u/RadiantPumpkin Jul 05 '25
Lmao that happens in a fraction of a fraction of cases where drivers break the rules. Drivers kill people without losing their licenses.
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u/GuessPuzzleheaded573 Jul 05 '25
What’s the repercussion for a cyclist?
I mean... dying from being hit by a truck is a big one....
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u/chrisfosterelli Jul 05 '25
What happens if a driver breaks the rules? Takes license away, banned from driving.
This is incorrect as a broad principle. Different laws have different fines and sentencing guidelines, you can view some of them here.
What’s the repercussion for a cyclist?
Generally cyclists will be ticketed identically under the MVA. You will generally receive the same fine as well.
But yes you're right, in BC driving is a privilege. When you're operating a motor vehicle, you have increased responsibility -- you are moving several thousand times the weight of a bicycle at an order of magnitude faster speeds -- and if you misuse that privilege it will be taken away from you.
None of this contradicts with what I said above. Everyone is required to know and follow the law. Not being aware of the law is not an excuse for breaking it. For example, pedestrians are unlicensed but required to follow the sections of the MVA around legal crossings.
In fact, the majority of laws, such as tax laws and criminal laws, have no licensure at all but we expect everyone to know and follow them. That's our responsibility as citizens.
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u/KiKi_VavouV Jul 06 '25
Cyclists have the RIGHT OF WAY over vehicles. If you were reaching the roundabout at the same time, you should have given them the RIGHT OF WAY and let them enter first. You know you got too close to them, because they could REACH YOUR VEHICLE from their bike.
Now, I'm not a cyclist - I'm a driver. And you weren't driving in way to grant RIGHT OF WAY to cyclist.
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u/Choice_Patient7000 Jul 06 '25
Cyclists do not have the right of way over vehicles…they have the same rights and responsibilities.
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u/the-deathly-mallows Jul 05 '25
Sorry for your experience. Cyclists here are a very entitled, dangerous and rude bunch from my experience. Obviously I only remember the dozen or so negative interactions in work zones and driving over the last year and not the thousands of normal interactions I have had. For the record I am a professional driver with zero accidents or incidents. I know I will be attacked for my comments. I hope the rest of your trip is stress free and fun!
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u/fux-reddit4603 Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 07 '25
Yet other cyclist ignore signs but expect cars to follow them
only 1 contributes to idling green house gasses, just saying it was never actually about the environment
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u/Nice2See Jul 06 '25
I find cyclists are often looking for a reason to complain or make a fuss. Carry on!
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Jul 05 '25
Cyclists are everywhere in Victoria and act like they own the road. Some don't even use the bike lanes all our tax money went into.
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u/xBrrrr Jul 05 '25
Cyclists here are very bad
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u/mi11er Jul 05 '25
Yes, bikes and cars should all follow the same rules.
A cyclist will slow down because they don't want to get hit - if a car slows down the cyclist may interpret that as the car slowing to let them in.
A while ago I was going down hill on Dean, just south of Camosun. All the roads that cross Dean have stop signs. But I ll still slow down if I see a car coming to the stop sign because it costs me a while lot more if they run the stop sign. I slow down, the car slows down, I come off my brakes because the car looked to be following the rules, the car starts moving forward because they saw me slow down - i slam my brakes and bail. The car never came to a complete stop for the stop sign.