Near-miss in southwest Calgary shows clashes between cyclists, motorists a problem, coach says

A simple training ride for a group of Calgary cyclists ended badly earlier this week, the CBC reported — and it indicates a problem between motorists and drivers in the Alberta city.

The cyclists were near the city’s periphery when the incident happened, CBC reports say, riding on Lower Springbank Road on Tuesday. Around 4:15 pm mountain time, the squad was traveling on the shoulder in a single-file line when a driver, approaching from behind, accelerated and took a sudden, hard right-hand turn on to 85th street, cutting them off. In the aftermath, one of the riders suffered a broken arm.

Calgary police are investigating, and the other riders, reportedly, were able to get a partial read of the car’s license plate. The incident itself, though, the group’s coach Lisa Mesink said, was one of the worst, most nakedly aggressive instances of cars playing chicken with bikes that she had ever seen.

“Personally,” she said, “I have never seen something that I felt was so intentional. And if it was a second earlier, or if he had misjudged it, it could have been even more grave than it was.” The cycling coach offered a couple of possible situations to correct problems like these — problems, she said, that are certainly not new in the area where the incident happened. An expanded shoulder, she offered, would help. But on the other hand, simply fostering greater respect between groups of people who share the road in different ways, she suggested, would also go a long way.

Keeping both drivers and cyclists safe, Mensink, should be the biggest concern.

“I biked around the world,” she said, “so it can be done. I’ve seen it in other countries, but there just needs to be a little more education and people taking a second to think about their actions before doing.”