Many Montreal cyclists break the law and do not stop near school buses when the red flashers are on, say bus drivers who say they avoid accidents every day.
The video showing a little girl from Plateau-Mont-Royal hit by a cyclist as she was about to take the bus two weeks ago shocked many, but is unfortunately not an isolated case according to testimonies collected by the QMI Agency.
“I would have liked to say it surprised me, but no. The majority of cyclists think that the street belongs to them. My job is to keep the children safe, so of course it pains me,” explained Stéphanie Cholette, driver at Autobus Ideal.
The driver herself was hit last year in the Saint-Laurent borough while she was lowering a child in a wheelchair. “The bike crashed into me. He said to me: “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you”. My freight elevator is open, I have a bib, a wheelchair. It’s impossible that you didn’t see me!” she said.
Photo Stéphanie Cholette
An 11-year-old boy also hit by a bicycle
Last year, an 11-year-old boy was hit by a cyclist as he had just gotten off the bus in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension district. “I was going towards home, [le cycliste] didn’t see me, ran into me in the back. He didn’t do anything, he left,” said Mikael-Martin Bilodeau-Huneault. His father confirmed that he escaped with a few bruises.
Since 2019, cyclists, like motorists, must stop when the red flashers on school buses are on or the stop sign is displayed.
But few of them stop, as the QMI Agency observed, which followed a school bus for a complete journey at the end of the afternoon. Among the scenes observed: a cyclist riding with cell phone to his ear through a group of young people who have just gotten off the bus, bicycles cutting off children in front of their parents, a cyclist overtaking a bus in front a primary school as dozens of young people board.
The driver we followed, Marouane Ataallah, is categorical. “Most do not respect the Highway Code. It’s dangerous. Cyclists should be careful. They are children, they know nothing at all about the Highway Code, they want to get off the bus and run to their mother or father,” explained the driver who also works for Autobus Ideal.
Photo Marie-Laurence Delainey/QMI Agency
“Where are the police?”
Drivers from other transportation companies, who are not authorized to speak to the media, would like to see more police around school buses.
“There are cycle paths everywhere now. We are everywhere, morning and evening, where are the police?” asked one of them.
Montreal police declined QMI Agency’s interview request. By email, we are told that the number of tickets issued to cyclists increased from 5,296 in 2020 to 8,449 in 2023. The main offenses concern, among other things, cyclists who did not stop at red lights or at stop signs or who were wearing headphones.
A campaign to raise awareness among cyclists
Vélo Québec is also working on a campaign to remind cyclists of the measures to take, particularly around pedestrians. A request to the Road Safety Fund of the Ministry of Transport was made in this regard.
“On a bike, we think we are less dangerous and we don’t know that the rules apply to us. That being said, I think we didn’t need it to be written in black and white […] to understand when a bus stops, and the lights flash […]we also stop,” explained the program director at Vélo Québec, Magali Bebronne.
