Raise the Hammer

I feel the pain for the person that was struck by the car, I do. Being an avid city cycler for a number of years - and having been hit by a car twice, and a city bus once (all could have been avoided) - I truly do understand how much it hurts to be a cyclist in the city and how nice it would be to have friendlier roads. My problem with the attitude in this article would be the sense of entitlement. The reality here though is there are more people driving in cars. Cars are bigger and need more space. We need roads for our business in the city. Cars are bigger. Main point, cars are bigger.

The attitude of cyclists (and like I said, I know from experience) is that cars must be made to to yield to cyclists. Sure, I think that we should be able to share the road, but the onus is and should always be on the cyclist to be aware. Just like the onus should be on the pedestrian to be aware of their surroundings when a cyclist (and vehicle) is coming.

Our mentality nowadays has shifted to the very entitled which - in my opinion - has led to the lack of use of common sense. If a person knows that they're coming up to an intersection that may have vehicles, that person may want to execute some common sense (and a bit of survival instinct) and may want to look around to make sure the situation is safe to cross. What they may not want to do is to walk in front of said vehicle. No matter if we're right in the situation or think we're right in the situation, the car is still bigger and will always win in that particular instance.

To blame the city or the infrastructure for this particular issue is just another way to shift the blame from the individual to something else. Maybe we should ask why the individual walked out onto the busy road, or didn't see the car coming or wasn't paying attention in the first place.