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Meanwhile, municipalities egg on the trend while taking half-hearted steps to make it safe.

In this new world, motorists are usually depicted as the villain. But in my experience, here in Toronto, drivers tend to live in fear — and irritation — of the bicycle, an unpredictable obstacle seemingly intent on colliding with them.

Motorists are usually depicted as the villain

But before readers decry this as a fossil-fuel enthusiast’s rant, consider these facts: I cycle to the office at least four months a year, walking and taking transit the rest of the time. I don’t drive much, but have a car and a driver’s perspective, as well as a cyclist’s. From those vantage points, here are a few ways I see the pedal-pushing revolution going awry:

The Right to Die:

A car turns right from a main street onto a side street and the driver’s focus is on one thing: the pedestrians crossing the intersection in front of them. They are not looking for cyclists speeding up from behind, swerving in front of them just as they’re about to complete the turn. And yet this happens constantly, cyclists putting their lives on the line in the process. The rules are clear: the car in front turning right has priority; the cyclist has to go around to the automobile’s left or, God forbid, wait a second or two.

God forbid, cyclists would stop for a minute or two

This is a specific, though common, example of a broader phenomenon: riders who see car traffic as an obstacle course, assuming drivers will be able to take defensive action should they miscalculate their own daredevil moves.