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An incident involving a Hamilton bike owner who was struck by a car is inflicting controversy, because the motorist allegedly offered the sufferer with false data after which fled the scene.
Based on Dave Shellutt, the sufferer’s lawyer, the bike owner in query was hit on the Cannon Avenue intersection in Hamilton on Nov. 5.
Video footage provided to INsauga.com by way of Instagram exhibits the sufferer passing by way of the intersection on a motorcycle lane — the place they maintained the authorized proper of strategy to cross.
Based on Shellnutt, the motive force promptly left their car to evaluate the bike owner’s situation after the collision. At that time, the sufferer was given what was believed to be legitimate data for insurance coverage causes.
It wasn’t till the sufferer confirmed that that they had sustained a concussion and comfortable tissue injury that they adopted up on the knowledge offered.
“They thought that the driver who had stopped and talked to them was being honest but when it came back to us they were given false information, that’s when Hamilton police just kind of shrugged,” Shellnutt advised INsauga.com.
Shellnutt says police haven’t charged the suspected driver associated to the incident.
INsauga.com contacted the Hamilton Police Service to touch upon whether or not any charges are being processed concerning the incident.
On the time of publication, legislation enforcement officers have but to relay any pertinent data on the matter.
The current incident can be in lockstep with a provincewide incentive to take away bike lanes from a number of municipalities, a undertaking rumoured to have a virtually $50 million price ticket — a tidy sum that Ontario’s transportation minister not too long ago shot down.
Whereas Shellnutt famous that policymakers in Hamilton should not strictly anti-cyclist, they’ve but to touch upon the Ford administration’s formidable aim of curbing the presence of motorbike lanes in Ontario.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow took a agency stance earlier this month, citing her private objectives to oppose the looming provincial overhaul of bike owner infrastructure.
Exterior the purview of municipal politics, Shellnutt famous that it isn’t shocking that Hamilton police have been gradual to use punitive measures to the motive force concerned within the Nov. 5 incident, alleging their observe report is lower than stellar.
“We regularly cover clients in Hamilton, and we have seen a pretty wild video of a motorist doing something similar to what we saw this month. The next day [the police] only gave the guy a slap on the wrist, and that was only after much cajoling,” alleges Shellnutt.
After being retained by the injured bike owner, Shellnutt’s authorized staff contacted Hamilton legislation enforcement officers, citing what they wished to see concerning charges, corresponding to a number of traffic-adjacent infractions beneath the Freeway Visitors Act.
Nonetheless, what stays beneath scrutiny is what the act of offering false data and fleeing entails throughout the framework of Ontario’s authorized system.
“What we see frequently, is people hitting and running or fleeing the scene without proper insurance, that kind of behavior is terrifyingly regular,” says Shellnut.” For this incident, he primarily did commit a hit-and-run, so we’re additionally recommending Hamilton police hit him with that cost.”
On the time of publication, it’s unclear if the motive force is going through charges.
Within the meantime, Shellnut stays involved this ongoing sample might sign a bleak future.
As he strongly suggests, if incidents like these happen repeatedly when there may be an on-road division between cyclists and motorists, what is going to issues seem like when there isn’t?
“You take away a barrier between blocks; there is going to be more opportunity to do more harm, and that’s the way it is going to work,” he tells INsauga.com.
“You’re going to have road users, e-bikes, e-scooters moving in and out of traffic — and not just at intersections — that will create more conflict, that will create more harm.”
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