April 25: Road rage

Is the cyclist in front of me having a bad day? Or is this just his usual? Two jay walkers walk right into his path, then glare at him. A mere 50 feet further, a van turns right without signalling, almost knocking him down. He seems unfazed. Even for my short commute today, a woman decides suddenly to signal and turn right, not seeing me abreast with her car. Another car makes a fast right turn on a ‘blushing yellow’ light while I cross the street. Don’t they know that they can turn right on a red light anyways--they need not rush to run the light? These encounters are not limited to cycling victims. Sometimes the cyclist is the perpetrator. Yesterday, a cyclist ran a red light and almost ran in the pedestrian ahead of me.

Statistics support the danger lurking on Toronto’s roads: last year, 14 pedestrians were killed on its streets within a 2 week period.

I am sometimes pedestrian, sometimes driver, and sometimes cyclist. I see vying for supremacy on Toronto’s streets daily. Can we just have a bit more respect for each other and live more symbiotically?

Here are Christine’s road safety guidelines (This is by no means an exhaustive list):

1. Ensure that new immigrants learn Canadian road laws, stressing courtesy. I am all gung-ho about cultural diversity in Toronto. However, new immigrants importing different rules and practices make for chaotic and unsafe road behaviour.

1. Have respect and courtesy for others. The extra few seconds to let someone cross the road safely will not make a big difference in most lives. Think of the psychological impact if, as a driver, you seriously maim a pedestrian. One exception when seconds matter is when emergency vehicles are rushing to a destination. I see so many drivers who opt to speed ahead of these vehicles instead of pulling over. What if your mother’s home is the destination of that ambulance?

1. For all users of the road, be vigilant of your surroundings. Is there a cyclist beside you? Are you opening your car door into the path of a cyclist? Is there a pedestrian about to cross into your path?

1. Cyclists: obey your signals--you are using the road too. Bicycle speed can cause major damage. I myself have learnt a valuable lesson when I erred on this point. Streetcars in Toronto run in the middle of the road whereas most stops are by the side. Cars are required by law to stop when the streetcar stops to pick up passengers. Once, while cycling, I pulled ahead when the door was about to close. I almost ran into a wayward toddler who lost hold of dad’s hand and darted back out on the street. I almost ran into her.

1. Pedestrians, obey your signals. I have a rule: no jaywalking. My friends think I am nuts waiting for a signal when there are no cars around. I do this not because I am a stickler of rules, but because of a practical safety issue. As a sometimes driver in a busy downtown core, I recognize how distracting movement can be, even behind me. Pedestrians crossing behind a car can detract drivers’ attention from other more serious needs of his attention.

I try to stay awake through another live drama theatre piece. Luckily, the story is riveting: “Our Class” follows the lives of a class set in early 20th century Poland. It explores issues between Jews and Catholics.