Road Pirates

I commute to work by bike. I shop by bike. I cycle whenever the roads are clear, even in the rain. I spend many weekends over the summer cycling for the sheer joy of cycling. I live and work downtown so I never need to use a car. I've learned that most Toronto drivers are decent and law-abiding. But in the past 5 years I've been in two accidents and seen several more. A fast car changed lanes without warning; I went over its side as my brake cables snapped from panic pressure. A left-turning car ran a light and I barely slipped by-- into another car. The driver fled. I've seen a few serious bang-ups, as well, and in every case the drivers were at fault. That's not counting the careless, arrogant or aggressive drivers I've barely avoided.

I share basic cyclists' fears: streetcar tracks, renegade left-turning cars and car doors that become scythes when opened. But taxis are the most common threats.

I have a theory. All people who drive for a living treat the road as their own private office, and think public rules don't apply to them. Many bike couriers obviously think this way. Taxis are the car equivalent of bike couriers, the important difference being that cars regularly murder people.

When I see a taxi, alarm bells ring. I know taxi drivers have hard lives, but there's no excuse for criminal recklessness. Taxi drivers make sudden sharp turns. They veer right and left to nab fares without looking, grinding cyclists into the curb. They stop without warning, stop in the middle of the road, make wild U-turns in busy traffic, straddle lanes, hug the curb and treat bike lanes as personal parking zones. When the light changes, they rush to turn right regardless of whether or not pedestrians or cyclists are in the way.

There are too many idiots giving taxis a bad name. Here's a solution to reduce the carnage on our streets. People get careless when they spend all their time on the road, so taxi drivers, and bike couriers for fairness, should need to pass regular safety courses to be allowed to work. Driving is not a right: unsafe drivers should lose permits, face fines and be forced out of business. Develop a public reporting system so all unsafe drivers are identified and punished. Hit them in the pocket-book, before they hit others.

It's a matter of priorities. Lives are worth more than the next cab fare.