I'm sure I'm preaching to the astute and knowledgable amongst cyclists on this particular forum. I am a cyclist myself but I also drive from time to time.
What peeves me as a cyclist or motorist is the notion that many cyclists have that they are entitled to the right-of-ways of a pedestrian without dismounting.
This misconception rears its ugly head at intersections in Toronto. Last night I was making a left hand turn in an automobile with a green light from Harbord Street to south on Ossington. A woman on a bike was turning with me on my right such that she would roll out on the right hand southbound lane on Ossington. Everything was fine there.
A male cyclist on Ossington heading southbound, took the liberty of advancing through the red (since it was a T intersection there was no crossing traffic on his side) I can look past this infraction as a motorist but not as a would be cyclist who may be turning left to merge into this lane under the assumption that anyone else will yield for the red.
The REAL KICKER came when the southbound male cyclist took the liberty of rolling through the red and turning left with the pedestrian cross walk signal. Coming out of my blind spot I nearly struck him. Had he dismounted at the begining of the cross walk and traversed on foot, I would have had ample time to see him.
Of course a mild bit of road rage lead to our exchange of F-Us and obscene gestures. What troubled me more is that the woman cyclist who hadn't committed any traffic infractions herself decided to join him in his cause.
What this gentleman did was in effect turn left on a red light. That's the bottom line. The fact that two cyclists think this is ok is a notion that has to be corrected.
I say this as a cyclist myself. We cannot be pedestrians and cyclists at the same time. Cyclists are vehicular traffic and must abide by the rules of the road without exception if we expect a safer ride.
