Tripleshot Cycling

Earlier today I experienced my first ever Hit and Run after a silver pickup truck attempted an unsafe pass (I’ll put details below as background info). Somebody suggested I make a post here, but instead of simply share something that we’ve already “been there, done that” or that risks being just another case of “preaching to the choir”, I decided to ask our readers a couple questions:

1 - Should/could TS do a better job of communicating on behalf of us as members but quite likely to the benefit of any cyclist in the CRD with fellow road users here in our home community of Victoria/Saanich?

What I might suggest, is to consider for example a photo, forward looking and taken from the passenger seat of a vehicle such as the one that attempted to pass our group today that would clearly show the following: 3 to 4 bikes on the opposing shoulder; opposing traffic wanting to pass those bikes; a solid yellow line in the middle of the road; and a series of 6 to 8 living, breathing human beings riding bicycles at 40-45 kmph in this same lane … and with a major traffic intersection just 200 - 300 metres ahead.

The caption below this photo could read: NOT A SAFE TIME TO PASS BICYCLES
Paid advertising in the TC or online, … could it help get our message across?

…..

There are many other such locations we could consider worthy of just such photography that could then be placed in local newspapers or perhaps online in an effort to help drivers recognize a visual that, somehow they all too often, seem to let the emotion or frustration of “damn these slow moving bicycles ahead of me are pissing me off” impede their better judgement.


The second question I can think of is …

2. Might there be a better way for us as a group (when riding together) to effectively either communicate or otherwise “deter” such poor judgement or bad decision making on the part of vehicles behind us?


Now for this one, I fully appreciate how delicate and individual this answer might be. But for me personally, in the same way we behave before our transition from Interurban southbound into that so-called suicide lane before making the left across oncoming traffic to get up to the Galloping Goose, I personally gotta believe there are more times that we need to be talking less and assessing our collective decision making so as to better inform the vehicles behind us of what we need for our collective safety.

My point being, if it’s not safe for vehicles to be passing us, maybe some of us who are confident and comfortable with it could physically occupy more of the lane and/or extend an arm backwards and gesture with an open hand in a “stop” movement toward the vehicle that is closest behind us? Personally, I already do this - normally only along the first 2-3 kms of Hunt Road northbound and portions of the Lochside Trail North approaching Mitchell’s Farm.

I think we’re getting well beyond the point of “surprise” in terms of the impatient behaviour of the vehicles that we’re supposed to be “sharing the road” with. Clearly they can’t see things - safety I mean - from our perspective … or can they? Have we really exhausted our efforts to communicate with them outside of what happens out there on the roads?

Could we take on more of a road safety communications initiative here in the CRD … I personally would say that more bike lanes = more short fuses and intolerance on behalf of a certain-segment of vehicle operators while also, putting more cyclists like those reading this, actually on the road where generally speaking - we belong and are better off from a safety perspective.

It’s really hard sometimes to put emotion aside when we as cyclists have only a thin layer of Lycra or other mostly low-profile clothing on and a motorist with the protection of airbags, seatbelts and a big steel cage around them decides to take their chances with the soft-looking cyclist instead of getting too close to another vehicle. Understandably, we can and do lose our cool sometimes, but how can we take advantage of the time when we’re not actually out of the road.

___________

TS Sunday Social ride … 09:50-10:00 travelling south on Interurban Road just south of Courtland Ave but north of Charlton Road.
6-8 riders in our group at the time. Avg speed (as per Garmin) 42.5 kmph.
Silver pickup truck decides to pass us despite 3-4 northbound bikes as well as northbound vehicle traffic.

According to witnesses behind me, pickup truck moved right across the lane and into me in order to avoid conflict with oncoming traffic and in the process, extended right side mirror whacked my left shoulder and helmet - forcing my head down and resulting in my steering into the side of the vehicle (which strangely/luckily likely allowed me to stay upright). After smearing the side of the vehicle, it accelerated and continued along Interurban but made a right turn at Wilkinson Road (next major intersection).

I had brightly reflective clothing - top and bottom and my bike had lights on - both front and back at the time of the accident.

Police Report has been filed and multiple witnesses provided.

“Crickets” …

Less than a week ago now, a fellow rider, Friend and club mate was also “rubbed-out” by another pickup truck. This one likely involved with a construction site here in the Dockside Green area - another hit and run with nearby witnesses and yet, no police report filed so far.

This is a conversation I personally see a great deal of value in but perhaps that makes me part of a “minority” at best here …?
Very surprised.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-new ... ne-5207383

I like your advertisement idea James. Seems like this would be right up the alley of Capital Bike and something that they as a non-profit could even apply for funding to do. TS could support something like that?

More broadly it is frustrating to hear of clear hit and run cases with zero follow up by the law.

There's a big issue with the law in that you can kill or maim someone (usually a pedestrian or cyclist) with a vehicle and often face incredibly puny fines even when you were at fault. That is hard to change.

Something that is maybe a little easier to change is encouraging/shaming our local police forces into actually following up on reported hit and runs. Doubly so when there are witnesses, licence plates recorded, etc.

Anecdotally, I found my old 1st gen GoPro in the closet, and strapped it onto my seat post facing reward for a few rides. Observational bias, but it did seem like vehicles passing and overtaking me gave more space than usual! Not even sure if the old battery had the red light blinking or not, so an empty camera looking box might be as effective...

Ultimately our issue here in NA, compared to many places in Europe and elsewhere is we degenerate into 'cyclists' and everyone else. In jurisdictions were everyone regularly cycles, sometimes you're just a person on a bike, sometimes a person walking, and sometimes a person driving a car. You have that awareness of moving around via all different modes. So the club's ethos to get more people out enjoying bikes in all forms including gravel, etc, and hopefully continuing to push beyond the MAMIL crowd, can help in this regard.

Here is a link to ICBC stats- many familiar roads- too many cyclists, pedestrians and drivers injured and killed.
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... sDashboard

Problems:
-Lack of enforcement of existing laws re aggressive or distracted driving. Many drivers will only change behavior if they perceive a high risk of getting caught. Ideas: bike cams, app to report license numbers, roving low cost traffic cops with focused training similar to bylaw enforcement officers
-Traffic flow- Google maps sending drivers on back roads to save time, population rising with more cars on the road
-Vehicle design- touch screen controls that require taking eyes of road, electronic gadgets
-Large vehicles with poor visibility (pickup trucks are 4/10 of the top selling vehicles in Canada)- (may be fixed by $2.00 per liter gas)

How do we encourage change the most effectively- this year not the next?

James, I am terribly sorry this happened to your group (and others).

To answer your direct questions, my answer is a resounding Yes.

I've been advocating for safer roads for quite a while now, particularly in Rural Saanich, and have quite a few thoughts on the topic. Some of you will remember the walk/bike I helped organize to raise awareness after a fatal crash on Prospect Lk Rd in 2019. While I've not (yet) been crashed out, I've experienced exactly what happened on Sunday dozens of times and have been badly frightened or run off the road simply trying to get home. Of the reports I've filed only two were dealt with satisfactorily.

In addition to Capital Bike (formerly Capital City Cycling Coalition) I lean on a very knowledgeable group called Livable Roads for Rural Saanich. I've also received excellent guidance and support from Dean Murdock and his group, Better Mobility Saanich. Dean is a candidate for Saanich Mayor in the upcoming election. While Saanich is making some efforts to improve road safety for vulnerable road users, and has a few very supportive counsellors, some of what they do is ineffective and continues to prioritize the convenience of people in cars over others. Some communications from Saanich and the mayor are simply misleading and untrue, and seem designed to be giving the appearance of doing more than they are to protect and promote active transport. For example, in the recent Saanich Spotlight Mayor Haynes stated that the default speed limit on Prospect Lk Rd has been reduced to 30 km/hrs. Not true. They dropped to 30 on a short stretch of the road (in front of the mayor's house) but the vast length of the road remains at 50. Another way I try to help is to report dangerous incidents on bikemaps.org so that useful data is collected.

It's my belief that we need leaders and advocates to create safe circumstances, proper penalties and deterrents, and help create a massive cultural shift to one that values the safety of people outside of cars.

As an aside, that particular section of Interurban Rd. has been a safety nightmare for many, many years now due to dirt from McNutts operation covering the bike lane. Countless people have written in, but we keep being told that Saanich is working on a long term solution. I don't know why they can't keep it swept clear and send the bill to McNutt in the meantime....

Stats show that road violence is a public health crisis in North America. In addition, we are most certainly in a Climate Crisis. I think it's absolutely in our best interest to speak out.

Shawn

Hey all - Corey from Capital Bike here

Great discussion above. As Lister, Shawn and others who I've chatted with know, we at Capital Bike have been working on this for a bit. Definitely something that TS can help with.

Two big pieces that jump to mind right now:
1. Making sure we have a broad coalition for support for a safe passing law. We recently had success at the BC School Trustees Association, getting them to pass a motion from SD 61 (Victoria) supporting such a safe passing law. It isn't a silver bullet, but it does help. What does this look like? As this requires changing provincial law, the key contact is your local MLA, especially if you live in Rob Fleming's riding. We're close to a breakthrough here - so personal stories are important, especially about riding on rural roads

2. Advertising. Capital Bike has a seat at the CRD's Traffic Safety Commission, who fund various road safety advertising, including some recent work on bike passing. I know there are ads running on CHEK, but they definitely could be expanded. To my mind, a good campaign would likely be some sort of walk/bike/horse combined one, with some beautiful rural Victoria scenery, showing safe passing behaviour.

Anyway, just some thoughts, happy to chat further.

Ok - thx to all who have contributed to this so far.

I’m in and will gladly participate in whatever plan or program we can put together that might help improve our chances out there “sharing the road”.

But to be honest, I’m not yet sure if my contribution is solely to be as an individual cyclist (aka road user) or as someone who’s part of TS Cycling Club and contributing as a concerned member of that Club - and that is a significant difference from my perspective.

I have no problem writing an anecdotal letter to an MP or MLA - but I would far rather do this in a coordinated fashion with the knowledge that we as individuals are making these contributions so that a week or so later - we as a group - can follow up and hold our representatives more accountable to the discussion that leads to safer roads for all.

Yes to the horse carriage visual … I’ve often wondered why vehicles don’t seem to get as frustrated about being held up behind them … don’t see the impatient behaviour such as honking, buzzing or verbal exchanges - that for me represent mild to medium forms of road rage.

I personally don’t see much benefit for anyone unless we do something collectively.

James - the individual letters absolutely help. And the slow drip helps as well. All of our provincial wins have come this way - a slow, steady drip of relentless advocacy over many months and years. It sucks that it takes that much to move the province, but that is the way it is. So even one letter from you plus getting a friend to do one is good. And then they ask a friend, etc. Also, as somebody who knows a bit about how the provincial letter receiving system works, a steady drip of letters is going to get more individual attention than a mass barrage (which will get roundfiled). And beyond letters, talking to your local MLA - set up a meeting with them and talk through your issues. The more that hear it, the better

Dear Capital Bike,

I am an active and very proud member of CBC’s Club of the Year 2021. In fact I read much of my own words (I was one of the letter writers) in CBC’s announcement of TripleShot’s recognition. To my understanding, we are among the largest cycling club’s in BC and possibly even in Canada.

“Ready or not”, that makes us a leader of sorts.

In my short 4 years as a member, I’ve seen this club embrace significant change.

Most especially in these last 18 months, our membership has grown dramatically and we offer a large menu of ride options - now on each and every day of the week. A few years ago we started a gravel program that now seems to attract as much participation (albeit seasonal still) as the road programming does.

On quite short notice last year, our club rallied behind new causes and opportunities. These included a Ride to Remember; a Commemorative Ride for Quentin (former TSer); Wednesday morning post hill-ride coffee on the Gorge at 2 Beautiful Club Member’s home and even some quirky bike maintenance clinics - our Club basically showed up and made - things - happen! We can, and do - do that.

Having just now looked at Capital Bike’s website for the first time, I’ve noticed 2 interesting features:

1- A “Fun and Easy for Everyone” spirit that is totally awesome!

I am 100% behind this and would encourage any and all opportunities to grow the CRD’s cycling community. I am very happy that a portion of my tax dollars are and will continue to be earmarked for such community-building initiatives and I personally hope you accept my appreciation of your efforts in this regard.

2- The following 3 “Campaigns or Priorities” scrolled across the screen while I was on Capital Bike’s home page:

A/ Support for 30 km/h;
B/ Support Accelerated active transportation network in Esquimalt; and
C/ Fostering Diversity and the establishment of an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Please let me be clear - I am impressed and thankful for these community-based initiatives and fully support them.

But … exactly where is ROAD SAFETY on Capital Bike’s priority list?

Can I ask another question that might initially sound a bit silly … ?

So we all have heard an abundance of: “Sorry, but this is just the way it is … “Don’t rock the boat, just keep doing things as we’ve always done them … “ … that’s the easier or only way really” messaging … Do we really need more of this messaging?

I mean, is that the approach Capital Bike would suggest for a diversity campaign or either of the other two that are featured prominently on your website?

I personally am quite thankful my cycling club did not take that approach with some of our programs from last year. Instead, we collectively acknowledged the writing on the wall and made things happen. We tend to rally together for causes we believe in. And we do so almost exclusively, by following the leadership of our incredible Volunteer Board.

It would be my observation that “Road Safety” - although still recognized as important - is simply not a current priority for CB. Instead it’s nuanced and folded into your other programs and initiatives. Of course CB supports “Safety” but specific to the needs of a group like mine, not so much really.

Any gains made to Road Safety, be they:

A/ to hold TS members to a higher standard while on organized rides; and/or

B/ to better inform and communicate with our CRD audience of fellow road users (specifically NOT: users of the Galloping Goose, LST, E&N, or multi-use protected bike lanes) why and how we behave in certain ways while “Sharing the road” and how we might help achieve a higher level of safety for all as we “Share the Road” … I would expect would never take away from CB’s priorities or intentions, but somehow it feels like Road Safety - especially while we are seeing such expansion and growth in our membership and yours, is especially time sensitive and important right now - more than ever.

Can I just point out that within my own Club’s Public Forum (this one you’re reading) … at present, “Road Safety” is filled under: “General Banter” and regularly gets buried by other posts that might not touch our membership the way Road Safety does …?!

So I can and will acknowledge the importance of patience here too.

Until my own cycling club acknowledges this as a priority, why would CB … much less the anxious and annoyed driver of a pick up truck haven’t even tried to communicate calmly with yet…?!

To me, where we are at present is completely normal and explainable by taking a look behind to see our path and consider our trajectory if we don’t alter our approach. But I can assure You I won’t be investing more time and or energy into a cause that is too easily dismissed as just another “Pet Peeve” of a whining cyclist. Nope not for me thanks. I’ll pass on that.

But should my Club decide to step up it’s game on this - oh yeah, I’d be willing to get involved and help. I don’t need to experience another truck smearing hit and run incident to get me motivated here. If nothing else, I hope you can appreciate my efforts so far with this post and sharing as much as I have.

Yes, I agree, sometimes we have to remain respectful of established protocol and procedures, but this is not one of those times for me.

Thanks for reading and doing what you do.

James Barry - Victoria

Thanks for bringing up these concerns about advocating for road safety, James.

TS is a member organization of the BC Cycling Coalition. All of our members have been substantial contributors to the BCCC safe passing campaign through board approved donation.
Many members are also involved in advocacy efforts individually.

The TS board also discusses safety on a regular basis, including choosing safe routes and directing members regarding safe practice on the trails and road.

I certainly agree that the matter of Road Safety is more than just General Banter and we will make an independent Board for Safety matters.


Chelsea
Tripleshot Cycling President

Some great tips there, Corey. Thanks for stopping in! Since the merger of GVCC and GVBWS, I've long admired how well Capital Bike has fulfilled its multiple roles of advocacy, education, and celebration.

Some further background for you and our newer members: you can find Tripleshot among a bunch of other champions of cycling safety here: https://www.bccc.bc.ca/member-organizations. Despite the date noted, Tripleshot actually became a member organization of the BCCC around the same time as Capital Bike, in April 2021. Last year's board voted to also make a substantial (c. $1K) donation to the BCCC Safe Passing Campaign (see image). This year's board is considering donating again. BCCC were also instrumental in encouraging ICBC to make their recent policy change concerning underinsured cyclists, after media about that injured dude having to pay to fix the car that hit him.

In addition to Shawn and Lister, Tim Gijzen, Mark Stephenson, and other members have demonstrated great leadership in this area. If Capital Bike has some concrete suggestions of ways Tripleshot can get more involved in CB's advocacy efforts, either individually or as a club, you'll likely find some willing eyes and ears!