It's not that I wasn't even startled by it -- I was, but since I already know this particular drill, I simply got up, got my startled self out of the way of traffic (I fell toward the middle of the road rather than the sidewalk), and collapsed on the front lawn of a house. My bike just got hit by a car. For the third time since moving to Toronto, eight years ago.

A bearded hipster coming up the road slowed down on his bike and said, "Are you okay?" I thought I was. I said I was. I added, "The car didn't even stop," and the hipster nodded his head sadly, knowingly, "No, it didn't," and rode off. I was a little miffed by not being offered any more help but I figured the hipster was late for work, and it's not like this is an unusual thing in Toronto -- this being a bike hit-and-run. And it's not bike-exclusive. Recently, a colleague wrote about almost being hit by a school bus while crossing the street. She lived.

Lots of people get to work on foot or via bicycle. In fact, the majority of Torontonians are cyclists (PDF). This is possibly because the city has some serious planning challenges, and gridlocks and construction are a part of everyday commute for those who drive. And we all want to get to work on time, sure. But what we have here are not racetracks, but rather roads and sidewalks. No one is more entitled than another -- we share, and sharing means caring, right?

Although if people don't really give a damn, well, there really is no reason for not reverting to some medieval tactics and applying an eye-for-an-eye justice. Despite being so casual about it as it happened, riding away from the scene of my accident, I was suddenly gripped by an intense daydream about a nice, convenient hand grenade. And not because I noticed that my handle bars became so twisted they looked as if they were trying to escape the bike. No. You see, I have a baby seat attached to the back of my bike with a giant orange warning sticker on the back of it. Thankfully, it was empty at the time.

For some facts, check out the recent scary biking accident stats.

Jowita

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