Cyclist keeps (camera) rolling along
Woman posts footage of confrontations with motorists — and other cyclists — who flout the rules of the road
With a digital camera clipped to her helmet, Astrid Idlewild is steadfastly pedalling on the front lines of Toronto’s transportation clash.
In less than two months, she’s cycled into four aggravated exchanges with motorists as she jockeys for space on Toronto’s busy streets.
Idlewild, an urban planning graduate and freelance writer, is part of a growing cohort of Toronto cyclists who record their urban rides with clip-on video cameras. And in her case, she posts footage of her daily jaunts — confrontations and all — on YouTube and Tumblr.
“This isn’t something that I just did overnight. This is something that’s built up over a very long time,” said Idlewild. “My having the camera is really to document when something does happen.”
Jared Kolb, director of campaigns and membership for Cycle Toronto, said the popularity of mounted cameras is “exploding” for cyclists in the city.
“It’s a really neat development,” he said. “You can really capture the sights and sounds of the street. That could include some really fantastic interactions, or it could capture elements of road rage.”
On a Jan. 11 cycling journey, Idlewild rode south on Laughton Ave., camera rolling. The shaky footage on YouTube shows a black Dodge Journey squeezing right as it passes Idlewild, who said it came “very close” to grazing her.
At a nearby stop light, Idlewild can be heard yelling: “Are you in a rush? Do you want to break the law?”
She then cites Section 147 of the Highway Traffic Act, which details the rules for proper passing, when a woman steps out of the Dodge.
“Don’t act stupid with me!” the driver says. “I will punch you in the f---ing face!”
Idlewild repeats several times: “Do you know the Highway Traffic Act?” She eventually raises her voice, which prompts the driver to respond: “Do I look f---ing deaf to you, you stupid bitch?”
It is one of several videos posted on Idlewild’s “velo tastic” YouTube channel. One shows another altercation in which Idlewild and a driver argue heatedly about “the rules of the road” and the Highway Traffic Act. She also hollers at a cyclist for running a red light on St. Clair Ave. W., and posts footage of hazards and motorist behaviour she identifies as proper. But in the dispute for space in the urban streetscape, cyclists aren’t the only ones with cameras rolling. Maciek Kon, an office worker who commutes by car into downtown Vancouver, has set up a YouTube channel to document infractions made by cyclists. He also has a blog, 604 commuter.ca, where he critiques Vancouver’s handling of cyclist issues. “A lot of them ride with complete impunity,” said Kon, himself a mountain biker. “It drives me absolutely up the wall when I see them riding without lights.” Unlike Idlewild, Kon said he tries to avoid confrontations. When asked why she’s willing to engage motorists in verbal exchanges, Idlewild said she has always been a cycling advocate, but became more ardent after the death of a fellow Toronto cyclist. “I think the thing that really set it off was when Jenna Morrison was killed,” she said, referring to a cyclist run over by a truck in November 2011. “You own your space and you have to assert your space, or else people around you are going to try to run you over,” she said. Toronto police Const. Clinton Stibbe said the force has started to see videos submitted as evidence when cyclists have collisions or confrontations with motorists.
But he cautioned that police don’t accept edited-down videos as evidence, and people may not want to submit their camera footage from an entire ride, since it likely also contains proof of their own traffic violations.
“They’re going to make at least one mistake on that trip, intentionally or not,” Stibbe said, adding that of the approximately 54,000 collisions on Toronto streets last year, about 1,400 involved cyclists.
According to a 2009 study by the City of Toronto, 54 per cent of residents are cyclists. However, less than 2 per cent commuted to work by bike on a daily basis in 2006, according to the national census.