Video of near accident between cyclist and driver not enough to issue ticket, Montreal police say

A Montreal cyclist who installed a camera on his bike to capture near-misses with drivers says heis disappointed to learn that the footage won't necessarily result in a ticket being issued to motorists who are "driving dangerously."

Nickolas, whose realname is being withheld because of the sensitive nature of his work, saidhe was cutoff by a driver on Tuesday last weekwhile cycling home on Sherbrooke Street East in the Rosemont borough.

"I was scared, I could feel the wind of the car passing [by] me," he said. "I could have touched the car, easily."

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The incident was captured on video by a small$200 camera that Nickolas mounted on his bike in September followingwhat he describes as a "closecall" with an STM bus.

The video, taken from the cyclist's point of view, shows a red car coming very close to Nickolas's bike before overtaking the same lanein rush-hour traffic.

Montreal cyclist Nickolas's video from his bike

8 years ago

Duration 0:05

The video from Nickolas's camera on his bike shows his lane being overtaken by a red vehicle. while he was cycling home.

Nickolasturned footage of the encounter over to Montreal police, but he said he was told that the video does not offer enough proof to issue a ticket because while the licence plate is visible in the footage, the driver is not identified.

"In that case, there will be no ticket issued very simply because the driver is not identified. It's not the kind of infraction we can give to the owner of the vehicle," said AndrDurocher, an inspector with the Montreal police's road safety division.

Under Quebec's Highway Safety Code, law enforcement officials must be able to identify the person driving the car to issue a ticket.

Some exceptions to the rule exist, such as when speeding tickets are given to drivers caught exceeding the speed limit or blowing a red light inphoto radar zones.

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Nickolasbelieves those rules should changeand that roads would be safer as a result.

"Video could be the first piece of evidence," he said.

"It's not just about cyclists, it's anyone who catches a car driving dangerously. They changed the law for photo radar. Why not this too?"

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Some membersofMontreal'scycling community agree.

"It's not just one or two [cyclists] who have cameras. I think it's greatif the videos can be used to try and improve safety." saidDan Lambert of the Montreal Bike Coalition, a group that advocates for the safety of cyclists in the city.

Vlo Qubec,the province's larger cycling advocacy group,said itdid not have an official position on whether such footage should be enough to justify a ticket.

CBC Montreal is awaiting comment from Quebec Transport Minister Laurent Lessard on whether the provincial government wouldbe willing to make changes to the Highway Safety Code to allow for ticketing in instances like the one Nickolascaptured on video.