Cyclist falls into construction pit
CTV tells about a Montreal cyclist who thought she was riding through a puddle, but instead fell into a pit face first. Item doesn’t say she’s suing the city or borough, but she should.
CTV tells about a Montreal cyclist who thought she was riding through a puddle, but instead fell into a pit face first. Item doesn’t say she’s suing the city or borough, but she should.
Ian 21:47 on 2025-11-13 Permalink
Yikes, no kidding. People sue for way less – and not to diminish their injuries, either.
If she were to sue, how would she go about it?
Kate 23:22 on 2025-11-13 Permalink
Not sure about suing, but I suspect you’d need to start with a lawyer.
My friend who got hurt tripping over an unsecured street bench stub sticking out of a sidewalk had her partner take his camera and document the site, then document her injuries and the damage to her clothes – everything. As I recall, the city paid up rather than go to court. But I’ll ask her and correct myself if I’ve misremembered.
Bert 23:43 on 2025-11-13 Permalink
Wait, the cyclist ignored safety cones and somehow does not have to accept responsibility of the outcome? Who would think that a cyclist would ignore basic rules of the road and common sense. Any road user who does not treat a “puddle” with some amount of respect does so at their own peril.
Chris 06:51 on 2025-11-14 Permalink
She was in a reserved bike lane. The bike lane was closed with a couple of cones, which would have been sufficient to stop a car because the space between cones was too small for a car to fit. But if you’re really trying to stop a bike (which they should have been given the size of the hole), the barricade needs to be such that a bike can’t fit though. They failed to create a sufficient barrier. And they failed to provide a protected detour. There are 2 lanes for cars, one should have been repurposed as a dedicated detour lane for cyclists. Look at the space between the farthest cone and the car that passed it: zero room for a cyclist.
It’s typical car-centric thinking on the part of the construction workers and their management. 1) no thought to bike-specific barriers 2) bike lanes are toys and don’t need real detours.
She was faced with moving out of a protected lane into busy traffic or squeezing through what looked like a minor patch job. She made the wrong choice clearly, but they should have provided her with a safe choice.
Ian 07:07 on 2025-11-14 Permalink
I’m thinking the improperly secured angle woudl go further in court, especially as there was no way to tell that was a hole, not a puddle.
Kevin 10:24 on 2025-11-14 Permalink
The video of her plunge is really astonishing, and she’s lucky she’s still alive.
Meezly 16:54 on 2025-11-14 Permalink
The hole was 10 ft deep! It should’ve been covered up from the start.