A photo posted on social media depicting a cyclist being ticketed by a police officer in a Victoria bike lane sparked a fiery debate and highlighted the wide divide between drivers and cyclists.
The photo attached to this story depicts a police motorcycle with its lights flashing parked at the Fort Street bike lane near Blanshard Street. The office is talking to a cyclist. The officer later handed out a ticket, but it is unknown what the offence was.
It sparked a loud conversation on X (the site formerly known as Twitter) from cyclists and drivers arguing about the rules of the road and who police should focus on.
One person called it “harassment” of cyclists while a driver called it “sweet justice” because they felt that cyclists don’t follow rules of the road.
“Cyclists commit more traffic offenses than drivers do, it’s about time we cracked down on their dangerous entitled behavior,” posted Johnny McGoff.
“A higher percentage of cyclists than cars are regularly running red lights and stop signs,” posted YVRproblems. “Plus they think they’re entitled to nearly hit countless pedestrians while biking on sidewalks. Time to start ticketing!”
The construction of bike lanes in Greater Victoria has stirred up a lot of animosity with drivers who don’t like tax dollars spent on it, with claims these bike lanes slow them down. Cyclists counter that they are needed to save lives because they protect them from drivers who ignore the rules of the road.
One basic point made by cyclists is that if they run a light, they put themselves at risk, while when drivers do it they can kill a cyclist or a pedestrian.
Many who posted felt that the police should be picking on cyclists.
“It’s important to harass a young woman with a heavy backpack, really teach her a lesson for daring to ride in a protected lane without a helmet. Huge public safety risk, clearly,” posted @RaynaRambling.
“I saw this live yesterday and was surprised that the cop felt the need to block the bike lane while giving the cyclist his ticket….very weird,” posted P. Gareth Morgan.
“For the car-brain idiots here, you kill thousands each year and break more laws along the way,” posted D. Jones.
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