Many driver-cyclist incidents could end tragically

MONDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — With Bike to Work Week just ended, one would think there would be a renewed spirit of goodwill between cyclists and motorists.

Not in Spences Bridge, at least not Sunday. Burnaby cyclist Craig Premack, 59, was riding in the long-distance Cache Creek 600 when he was shot in the arm. Three other shots missed. Police are looking for the driver of a pickup truck.

The shooting happened on a remote stretch of Highway 1 just south of Spences Bridge.

Drivers and cyclists are known to have their differences, but this is getting bad. It’s fortunate Premack wasn’t killed, yet there are incidents every day between drivers and cyclists that could easily end in tragedy.

As an example, just the other day a Kamloops driver slowed to await an opportunity to pass a group of cyclists when a pickup came up behind him. When the first driver found a safe spot he pulled around the cyclists. Then the second driver did the same but tore past the first vehicle and the cyclists just in time to see a car come around the corner straight at him.

It was a close call, one that could have involved all three vehicles and the cyclists, too, and it’s doubtful all of them would have survived.

It’s a two-way street out there. Cyclists have to be courteous and drivers have to be patient. Many Kamloops roads just aren’t designed for vehicles and bicycles to share, and extra caution is always necessary.

Was the Spences Bridge incident a case of an angry driver with a grudge against cyclists? Hopefully police will find out, but it’s certainly a reminder of a long-standing worry about disharmony on the roadways.