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Court blames Vancouver cyclist for accident that left him in pain and depressed

Court blames Vancouver cyclist for accident that left him in pain and depressed

Despite public-awareness campaigns and efforts by city planners to separate them, cyclists and motorists still do not play well together.

Bikers complain about drivers who intimidate cyclists and squeeze them against the curb, while four-wheelers fume about bikers who ignore traffic lights and stop signs or dart in front of them.

It's that latter move that turned 42-year-old Sky Miles ever so briefly and painfully into a hood ornament on 20-year-old Sapna Kumar's car six years ago. And after years of litigation, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled Miles is responsible, CBC News reports.

Miles, a transit driver, was cycling down Granview Highway, a busy four-lane arterial road east of downtown Vancouver on Oct. 20, 2007, when he changed lanes in advance of making a left turn.

Kumar was coming up in the left lane behind Miles, who testified he was wearing a helmet and bright yellow jacket and that he had shoulder-checked and signalled.

The young woman's car struck Miles, sending him bouncing off the hood and windshield and crushing his bike. He went to court for compensation, claiming he suffered numerous injuries, including chronic neck and lower-back pain, depression and sleeplessness, CBC News said.

[ Related: Toronto man to track cycling ‘door prize’ accidents in absence of police stats ]

Miles alleged the accident was Kumar's fault and that the novice driver was obliged to slow down and give way to him when he changed lanes. Kumar's lawyer argued she had the right of way and it was up to Miles to make sure his lane change was safe.

The judge agreed with the latter. The trial last March heard Kumar was travelling beside a large truck that shielded Miles from her view (and vice versa), which Miles' lawyer contended should have made Kumar extra cautious to the possibility he might change lanes, the National Post reported.

But Justice Lance Bernard found Miles was unreasonable to expect Kumar to make provision for "non-visible vehicles" that decide suddenly to move into her path, the Post said.

In his written ruling, Bernard concluded the accident was not due to Kumar speeding or driving carelessly and that Kumar, not Miles, had the right of way.

"Mr. Miles has failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that the collision in question was caused by the negligence of the defendants; instead, the evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Miles was, in the words of counsel for the defendants, 'the author of his own misfortune.'

"Regrettably, it is, indeed, misfortune for Mr. Miles. He continues to suffer the negative impact of a momentary lapse of good judgment as an experienced, yet vulnerable, cyclist; however, it was his lapse and not that of Ms Kumar."

The Canadian Press reported last year there are about 70 cycling deaths in Canada each year.

Statistics posted by the Canadian Automobile Association also show about 7,500 cyclists are seriously hurt every year. Some two thirds of cycling deaths take place on city roads with speed limits of 70 km/h or less.

This Google Map plots many cycling fatalities going back two decades.

Attempts by police to referee the interface between cyclists and motorists have had mixed success. Attempts to target bikers who breach traffic laws are met with opposition, such as the crowd-sourced online map posted to alert Montreal cyclists to intersections where enforcement was focused, The Canadian Press reported last month.

The toll of deaths and injuries this year has not abated.

Last July, a retired couple on a cross-country cycling tour died when they were hit by a pickup truck on the Trans-Canada Highway near Nipigon, in northerwestern Ontario, CP reported. Robert and Irene Booth were part of a group of 25 cyclists heading east from Vancouver when they were struck from behind.

Last June, a cyclist participating in a triathlon competition was hit and seriously injured by a car near Quebec City, CBC News reported.

Also in June, a 16-year-old Victoria boy died while on a cancer charity fundraising ride with his mother and uncle in Washington state when he fell off his bike and into the path of a car, according to the Vancouver Sun.

[ Related: Michael Bryant’s 28-second encounter with Darcy Sheppard opened door to nightmare ]

One of the most notorious fatal bike-car incidents involved former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant, who endured an investigation and criminal charges after intoxicated bike courier Darcy Allan Sheppard was killed in 2009.

Bryant's convertible, with his wife in the passenger seat, careened through Toronto's downtown with Sheppard lying on the hood and then hanging on to the side of the car before his body struck a fire hydrant and his head hit the road.

Evidence revealed Sheppard was behaving erratically in the moments before encountering Bryant and blocking his car, which stalled. A panicking Bryant tried to get around Sheppard but the car lurched and the cyclist ended up on the hood, mad but not seriously hurt.

At that point, Sheppard apparently "latched onto the vehicle" and hung on as Bryant drove away, special prosecutor Richard Peck said, according to the Toronto Star. Eyewitnesses and forensic evidence suggested Sheppard was trying to climb into the car and attack Bryant. There was no evidence Bryant tried to rub Sheppard off the vehicle.

The evidence, including other incidents involving Sheppard, pointed to a heavily intoxicated cyclist indulging in road rage. Charges against Bryant were dropped.