As the great bike path debates rage on across Canada (yeah Toronto has their version too, we aren’t that special Montreal), I saw something last night that gave me some PRSPCTVS.
I was driving on highway 40 heading west and there was all kinds of traffic on the ramp heading towards the Decarie Expressway. The GPS didn’t make it seem like there was crazy traffic after, so I proceeded to take my chances. I am so glad I did.
Once I got my turn in line, only a few short minutes later, I saw something truly remarkable.
There was a car, that was literally upside down, on the ramp.
I had real questions like did it drive off the wall and flip over? Did it fall off one of the upper ramps and conveniently land on this one? Why was this car upside down?
As is the case of passing by other people’s misery, I was given no answers.
However, given there was police involved, that guy’s accident definitely cost us taxpayers some money.
There are a lot of car accidents that take place on a regular basis
Immediately after seeing the upside down car, I started driving onto the open expressway.
The very first exit is Jean Talon. I look up and what do I see? Another car is being towed and its whole front end is smashed in. I’m sure to some degree or another, that second car also created a bit of taxpayer loss.
Today I was driving on St Jacques in Ville St Pierre and this person was driving a red minivan. They stopped and patiently waited for these folk to pass by the driveway into a parking lot. They turned in and all I heard was this loud sound that definitely involved liquids breaking free.
They had smashed right into this grey mini van. While this one is likely a matter of insurance, I’m sure somewhere down the way these types of expenses come back to us. As our insurance premiums go up across the board to compensate the payouts.
The only data I could find is province wide, but there were at least 25000 accidents across Quebec last year. The thing about that data is it relates to injuries. I can assure you plenty of accidents happen across our city with no injury.
Cars are such a fascinating income drain.
Today I had the pleasure of paying Nissan for an oil/break fluid change
Before I hear anyone go on about paying at the dealership directly, I had Spinelli money to spend.
It also turns out I have an alternator issue. It’s not providing enough charge to my battery. It’s mostly a moot point that has minimal impact, but at least once my car stalled. In theory my car stalling at the wrong time could be a hazard. Either way thank God my warranty covers the repairs.
My entire maintenance on a bike for a year was about 500$ (CAD). Before y’all question it, from about 2016-COVID I would cycle approximately 20 KM a day, rain or shine. I used to pull up with my tarp setup, bag covered and then shower at work.
Miss me with that no one rides a cycle to work shit.
Cars cost a lot more to operate. They also come with a lot of freedom. Cars are a wildly good luxury. I love being able to drive myself to Toronto with the amazing gas mileage that comes with a 2021 Sentra S.
Had my car not been under warranty, that alternator would have cost me a pretty penny.
I wonder as the bootstrapping happens across our inflation driven Canada if a pivot towards cycling would just help families pay bills more.
Cars cause damage to people and property, but also to our wallets.
When a bike flips upside down you can just pick it up and take it away
One time I did a bold move and I went up a hill and gained like 2-3 feet of air and landed weird, my bike literally flipping over.
It landed upside down.
While I was probably concussed and was not in great shape. The ground was not damaged and injured me could move my bicycle back to the former employer’s office. When I think back to the upside down car, with the flares and highway delay, it’s just such a different scale of disruption.
Police also need to be out there in crazy force, costing us money, because on some real talk, people do not behave. They literally have cop cars all over, with lights on, like look we’re here, don’t fuck around. Usually that’s reserved for the chaos that is rush hour on peak streets where people move foul.
I wonder if we just had less cars on the road, if it would result in a need for less cops on the road. The detectives and cops that do the kind of criminal investigations that don’t seem to just tax the regular folk, aren’t the ones pulling people over for speeding. Maybe if there were less cars, people wouldn’t get caught at the awfully slow lights and become frustrated because there’d be no congestion.
In case any of my critics read this, I’m not writing a scholarly piece here. I have a joint in my mouth as I ponder on thoughts inspired by seeing like 3 absurd traffic accidents in the span of 12 hours. Y’all should try smoking a joint and pondering too, it’s a good time.
I look forward to seeing the BIXI filled bike path streets in NDG in a future where we need to actively watch for cyclists when getting out of the car.
Maybe then, our restaurants won’t die because people actually come to the hood to eat our food.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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