Accidents between cyclists and motorists often make headlines. But at a time when the Réseau express vélo (REV) continues to develop and electric vehicles are proliferating on the paths, collisions between cyclists are becoming more and more frequent and have consequences that are proving costly, according to testimonies collected by The duty.
Like many cyclists, Guillaume Lepage uses his bike as his main mode of transportation, summer and winter. The Montrealer was on his way to work when he was hit, not by a motorist, but by a cyclist who never checked to see if anyone was coming before getting on the bike path. An accident that left him with a dislocated shoulder, a fractured rib and a pneumothorax.
“I hit its front wheel, it stopped me dead in my tracks, I went into a gliding flight and suddenly fell to the ground,” confided Guillaume Lepage, who was on one of the busiest runways in the city, on De Brébeuf Street, on the edge of Laurier Park.
Yves Bonneau also suffered serious injuries following an accident with another cyclist. “I was heading towards Mount Royal and a guy decided to turn without warning on [la rue] Sherbrooke. He was on my right, so we got caught in the middle of the track. We got our pedals tangled. He fell and I had to push hard not to fall. As a result, I dislocated a vertebra in my lower back,” says Mr. Bonneau, whose accident in June 2016 left him with a cervical hernia that lasted six months.
Costly collisions
Mr. Bonneau and Mr. Lepage consider themselves lucky to have been able to cover their medical expenses and convalescence thanks to private insurance from their respective workplaces. That was not the case for Gabriel Tremblay, who was hit by another cyclist on the path in front of Habitat 67. Mr. Tremblay ended up with a broken thumb and wrist, in addition to material damage to his bike and four days of convalescence that he had to pay for out of his own pocket. “In total, I think I lost four cashable days. For the bike, it was around $300.”
What is regrettable, according to Magali Bebronne, spokesperson for Vélo Québec, is the lack of insurance for these accident victims: “When a person has a driver’s license and is insured with the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec [SAAQ] decides to take her bike instead of her car, she finds herself completely helpless, she explains. In addition to the physical vulnerability that we have on the road, we have this vulnerability to the system. It’s a bit of a double whammy.”
The case of Robert Leblanc, who died after a collision with another cyclist three years ago at the intersection of Ontario and Berri streets — recently defined as the most dangerous intersection in Montreal by McGill University’s Transportation Research Group (TRAM) — is surely one of the most tragic examples of this type of accident.
To ensure safety on bike paths, the City of Montreal has reviewed its development criteria to ensure that they are wider. “Wider paths, or one-way paths when possible, allow different types of users going at different speeds to safely pass slower users,” says Hugo Bourgoin, spokesperson for the City.
A phenomenon difficult to quantify
Bicycle/bicycle collisions are still not counted. “We lack data. The collisions that are reported are only those made to the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec and involve an accident with a motor vehicle. This is really a problem,” laments the Vélo Québec spokesperson.
In Montreal, neither the City nor the Police Department have data on collisions between cyclists. Vélo Québec deplores the fact that the provincial government did not take advantage of its bill amending the Automobile Insurance Act, the Highway Safety Code and other provisions to expand the compensation offered by the SAAQ, even when an accident does not involve a motorist. As for data, a working group was mandated by the SAAQ to draw up a profile of collisions not involving road vehicles and analyze options for expanding insurance coverage to include people involved in this type of accident. The group’s report is still awaited.