A video showing the driver of a minivan traveling in a track of the Express Bike Network (REV), in the Villeray district, shocked elected municipal officials on Monday, who are calling on citizens to denounce this kind of behavior en masse on the road.
“The REV is an infrastructure to ensure the safe travel of cyclists, not a shortcut for cars. The behavior of this motorist is absolutely unacceptable, dangerous, and must be strongly condemned, ”hammered the head of mobility on the Montreal executive committee, Sophie Mauzerolle, in a statement.
It was a passerby who first captured the scene, before posting it on the social network Reddit, in the past few hours. Everything seems to have taken place on Lajeunesse Street. No cyclist was on the cycle path at the time of the incident.
Said video was quickly re-shared several times online. It can easily be recognized that the driver of the vehicle is in a REV cycle lane, thanks to the blue markings specific to him on the roadway, which also clearly indicates that the path is exclusively reserved for cyclists. If several Internet users have deplored the situation, which would often occur in the metropolis, others have however recalled that it can be “easy to make this mistake because of the width of the cycle path”.
“This kind of behavior is unacceptable,” said Councilor Alba Zunigas Ramos, opposition spokesperson for active transportation.
The elected official says to invite “all citizens who observe this type of offense to contact the authorities”. “The situation presented in the video demonstrates the importance of being extra careful when designing these facilities to better ensure the safety of the most vulnerable,” she continued.
Sophie Mauzerolle, she says that the City is working “relentlessly to better secure our streets and build infrastructure allowing the safe sharing of the road for all users”. “We are in contact with the SPVM which is investigating to trace the vehicle and the offender,” she said.