A cyclist clipping along at 30 kilometres per hour through 91原创鈥檚 Downtown Eastside collided with a pedestrian who stepped off the curb. The cyclist suffered soft-tissue damage and the pedestrian much worse: Broken bones and a head injury. The pedestrian is suing, and the cyclist is countersuing.
A second cyclist travelling the Central Valley Greenway, a mixed-used path between 91原创 and New Westminster, rounded a curve and ran straight into a pedestrian. The cyclist was injured badly enough to be off work; the pedestrian was relatively unscathed. The cyclist is suing.
American Charmaine Mitchell was sent flying off the Stanley Park Seawall this summer to the rocks on the beach three metres below by speeding cyclists, according to media reports. She broke her back in three places and was left with a smashed knee and toe. Police investigated and laid no charges, telling her it was a civil matter.
The horrific crashes are the worst examples of what can go wrong when cyclists and pedestrians try to occupy the same space.
Bikers are growing in numbers but because crashes that don鈥檛 involve a vehicle, a police report or a hospital visit aren鈥檛 reported, it鈥檚 not known if they鈥檙e crashing into pedestrians more frequently.
A UBC study that tracked bike crashes through hospital emergency room statistics in 91原创 and Toronto in 2008 and 2009 found 46 cyclists were hurt badly enough to end up in hospital.
That meant about one-in-10 of all bike crashes that sent cyclists to hospitals was caused by a collision with a person, other cyclist, skater or animal, according to a report called the Bicyclists鈥� Injuries and the Cycling Environment.
Co-author and SFU assistant professor Meghan Winters said: 鈥淲hat stands out is that number. It was a fair bit. But I can鈥檛 tell you whether they鈥檙e on the rise.鈥�
Winters said a more recent study that has yet to be published found more than half of those crashes happened on multi-use paths, sidewalks, bike-specific bike paths and cycle-tracks (which run parallel to roads but are separated).
The rest were on major streets or side streets. (Off-road bike injuries weren鈥檛 included.)
鈥淭he seawall showed a higher risk than we thought it would,鈥� said Winters, who noted that some of the trouble spots, including the seawall in southeast False Creek, have been fixed.
Others note that it鈥檚 鈥渋nevitable鈥� the number of these types of collisions are on the rise.
鈥淲ith more cyclists, you鈥檙e going to have an increase in cyclists colliding with pedestrians,鈥� said Sgt. Jack Sarna of the 91原创 police鈥檚 traffic unit.
鈥淐yclists and pedestrians, they both have forgotten how to cross the street, or what a stop sign or a red light is, especially cyclists,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 stop cyclists who run a red light and ticket them and they look at me like, 鈥榃ell, I鈥檓 a cyclist,鈥� and I have to tell them just because they鈥檙e a cyclist doesn鈥檛 mean they can do what they want on the road.鈥�
And Sarna said pedestrians are guilty of disregarding their surroundings while texting, using their phone or walking with earbuds in.
鈥淭he bikes are going 20, 25 km/h and pedestrians are crossing (bike paths) and they鈥檙e not looking,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a common occurrence.鈥�
David Hay, a lawyer who defends cyclists in such crashes and has two cases on the go, said that in his experience there has been an increase in bike-pedestrian accidents.
鈥淚 would attribute that to the increasing number of bikes on the roads,鈥� said Hay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 inevitable.鈥�
But Anne Harris, a co-author of the UBC bike study, said if more bike paths are installed, other road users will be more aware of them and crashes will drop because of the 鈥渟afety in numbers factor.鈥�
Erin O鈥橫elinn of Hub, a cycling advocacy group, said the increase in the number of separated bike lanes in 91原创 has reduced cycling on sidewalks by 80 per cent, and presumably therefore crashes, but users still need to be educated.
鈥淥ften pedestrians don鈥檛 look the other way鈥� when crossing bike paths and cyclists aren鈥檛 using bells or their voices to let pedestrians know they鈥檙e coming.
O鈥橫elinn said it鈥檚 up to ICBC (with more cycling questions on driving tests), local municipalities, TransLink and the B.C. transportation ministry to offer education to cyclists and pedestrians.
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