By Dominic Abassi

Hit-and-run on Nanaimo cyclist underscores push for safe passing law

Oct 20, 2017 | 1:46 PM

NANAIMO — The painful experience of a Nanaimo cyclist is a reminder of why a group is lobbying the provincial government for a new law to protect vulnerable road users.

The BC Road Safety Law Reform group is pushing for a law requiring motorists to give 1.5 metres of space when passing cyclists, pedestrians or wheelchairs on the road. Such a law may have prevented avid Nanaimo cyclist Ian Gartshore from allegedly being sideswiped by a car last weekend.

Gartshore said he was riding along Terminal Ave. near Townsite Rd. on Oct. 15 when he felt pressure on his leg and realized a car was “right on top of him.” He said the fact the car’s bumper didn’t hit him is a sign the vehicle actually moved closer to him as it was passing.

“I hit the top of the car with my left arm to balance myself…There was no looking back or acknowledgement, they just turned right onto Townsite and they were gone.”

Gartshore, whose main mode of transportation is a bike, described Nanaimo as a “painful joke” when it comes to being a cycling-friendly community. He said while giving a cyclist nearly five feet of passing distance may seem excessive to some, it’s a move that would spark change. “If we want to replace a lot of the cars on the road with bicycles, which is to the advantage of every body…then we need to help cyclists feel safer.”

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David Hay, chair of the law reform group and Queen’s Counsel lawyer, said it’s a “sad commentary” how his practice representing injured cyclists has exploded over the last decade. He said the law is currently silent on a safe passing distance, which makes things difficult to interpret for everyone from drivers to judges.

“Typically the motorist will think they have allowed sufficient passing distance, whereas seen through the cycling lens it was wholly insufficient,” Hay said. “A cyclist can do little to avoid a hit from behind…If you leave it to the subjective standard, one person’s safe passing distance is another person’s too close.”

Hay said a safe passing law would be a significant step towards harm reduction and would be the “low hanging fruit” of legislation. He conceded such a law would be difficult to enforce, but said it would raise awareness and safe driving around bicycles would become engrained in drivers over time.

“Without any knowledge of what the standard is, we’re just basically leaving it up to people to determine when they think it’s safe to pass.”

He said three provinces and 25 U.S. states have adopted safe passing laws. New Brunswick made the move after a young competitive cyclist was hit and killed in 2016.

ICBC data showed between 2011 and 2015, on average, 290 cyclists were injured and three killed in crashes every year on Vancouver Island.

Ultimately unsafe habits on the roads breed a vicious cycle, Gartshore said. “When drivers are dangerous…some cyclists get so traumatized they act in really stupid ways. They start doing the wild, crazy things drivers don’t like. And when they do that, it justifies for some drivers they can go ahead and sideswipe them or scare them.”

The BC Road Safety Law Reform Group is comprised of the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, the British Columbia Cycling Coalition, HUB Cycling and health researchers.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi