Raise the Hammer

The emphasis added in the quote above actually may be exaggerated. I've been thinking about how this would have happened so let's list some reasonable assumptions/observations:

1) SUV was in the centre turn lane facing south waiting to turn left 2) Transport was moving slowly northbound in the right lane with 4ways on 3) SUV was sitting in that lane for a while waiting to complete the turn (based on time of day) 4) Seeing a break in traffic he made the turn into the parking lot

Let's take a look at a "freeze frame" just as the turn starts... Truck in slow lane BLOCKING THE VIEW OF THE SIDEWALK BEHIND IT. SUV driver who, having been waiting for a bit and not seeing pedestrians prior to the truck blocking his view and making a reasonable assumption that there was no cyclist on the sidewalk, is making the turn and in an effort to avoid blocking the slow moving transport perhaps gives it a bit more gas than normal creating the illusion of "cutting in front" of the truck.

"Cutting in front" is highly subjective. Yesterday I was driving on the Linc and having just passed several vehicles was making a lane change back into the "slow" lane. I had noticed either an inattentive/tired/distracted motorist behind me (I had noticed him speed and slow down, make sudden direction changes in corners when he approached the lines etc) make the lane change as well so I gave him fair warning with my signal light and moved over slowly. While I was moving he suddenly noticed me slammed on his brakes and jerked his steering wheel. This driver would say I "cut him off" however there was a significant amount of room between the 2 vehicles and I had given fair warning.

Back to this event: The trucker was driving along LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO STOP to allow his partner to get out and grab something presumably from Tims. The trucker was probably not more than vaguely aware of the SUV driver waiting to turn left and may have been surprised to see him make his turn creating the illusion of cutting in front of him.

Strictly speaking, it is the cyclist's fault that this accident occurred. Regrettable yes, however no reasonable fault can be placed on the SUV driver. The trucker didn't mention having to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the SUV so it wasn't too close for comfort. The rules of the road are for cyclists to drive on the road and in this case, if he'd been on the road the accident probably would not have occurred.

The words "at fault" don't necessarily equate to "blame" either. Can one blame the cyclist for using the sidewalk? No absolutely not, I wouldn't want to ride a bike along Upper James either. So who is to blame for that? That'd be the people responsible for the lack of bike lanes on the road - city officials in this case.

Once again, sincere condolences to the family of the young man who passed away and all the best to the driver of the SUV who must be traumatized by this.