OHTA.ca

My friend (driver) and I (front passenger) were on our way to a restaurant when we were kind of lost. We realised that we had to make a right turn (into a parking lot) all of a sudden and so she did the usual shoulder and mirror checks, just a lot quicker than she normally does given that she had less time (the turn had to be made quick or we would have missed it). All of a sudden I see a cyclist swerve and come to a stop. My friend hasn't noticed yet so she continues to go. I let her know and she begins to slow down to a stop.

All we hear is a "F**** you a**h***" and the biker and a friend of his begin pedalling towards the car. My friend freaks out, because they are kind of approaching us quite violently and she speeds off. No collision occurred; the biker was a good 5 feet away, and the only reason she sped off was that she was afraid she would get into a fight... she panicked... They obviously have the license plate number. I'm wondering if they could press any charges. I told her it would be difficult because the bikers are on the sidewalk. That is illegal. Yes, she should've noticed them during the shoulder check but even then it's really difficult to notice a biker especially if you're expecting them to be obeying the law and being on the road. I'm wondering what kind of charges they could press against her. Could they ding her with careless driving? Any help would be great. Thank you.

I guess theoretically your friend could be charged under section 142 (1) of the Highway Traffic Act for Turn Not in Safety, but the cyclists could also be charged for riding on the sidewalk. Bicycles riding on the sidewalk would be covered by a municipal by-law, so the exact charge for them would depend on what city this happened in. That all having been said I think the likelihood of her being charged at this point is pretty low. Most likely the cyclists didn't bother calling the police, they probably just yelled and cursed and then went on their way. Even if they did call the police my guess is that nothing will happen since there was no collision, most police forces don't have the time to investigate minor traffic incidents such as this.

I hate it when they do that,I have run one over myself.A few years ago I was making a left hand turn off a major road on my motorcycle and had a cyclist riding in the opposite direction on the sidewalk I was timing on coming traffic and would have been caught in the middle of the road as he came into view far to late.Long story short I took out his rear wheel at a fairly good clip and sent him cartwheeling sideways.He didn't have much to as he was pretty beat up.The cops and ambulance were called and gave him ticket and a ride to the hospital.I explained to the officer that I could not see him and it was either me or him getting hit.The police told me that If hes on the sidewalk riding in a blind spot and gets hit it's all on him period.It would seem they've had it with e-bike and cyclists doing this kind of thing

I also know of a 15yr old on the sidewalk who ran into a car turning into a driveway.His father had to pay for the dent.

Then theirs the time in the paper another cyclist hit a senor and hurt her very badly.He was chased down by passing cars and charged.Bikes belong on the road for a reason and no one should be chastising them when they follow the rules.I would say you in the clear

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, that's basically what I said to her but I just wanted to make sure I gave her the right advice. Hopefully nothing happens. I think they need to enforce the law better with bikers. A lot of them blow right through stop signs, squeeze between cars during red lights. I've seen one on the wrong side of the road even. And it's their life that's usually on the line, at least we're protected by a hunk of metal and airbags, but nobody wants that on their conscience. Either stick to parks where they have nice bike paths or obey the rules of the road. Happy Canada day!