Ryan Reisert

Ryan Reisert

Cyclists in Montreal are increasingly finding themselves on the wrong end of traffic violation tickets. The Montreal Police Service (SPVM) has been cracking down in recent months on cyclists who run stop signs and red lights, or cycle on the sidewalk.

Sam Boniface, a U3 exchange student, received a ticket last week.  

“I was biking down Prince Arthur to St. Laurent … I was on the cobblestone, and they were hiding around the corner on rue Coloniale,” he said. “It was [raining hard, expletive redacted] … I didn’t think anyone would be there.”  

While many cyclists consider running red lights and stop signs as the norm, particularly within the Milton-Parc community, Montreal’s police force is becoming increasingly concerned with unsafe cycling behavior. Josh Freed, a reporter for the Montreal Gazette, relayed a message that police will be placing bicyclists who violate traffic laws under increased scrutiny.

“This week officers have handed out about 25 per cent more tickets to cyclists this year compared with the same period [in 2010],” Freed said in an email to the Tribune.

“It shows the police are finally starting to treat the bike like a vehicle, not just a recreational toy—now that the city has given them legitimacy on the road and their own bike paths,” he said.

According to Gazette archives, provided by Freed, the most frequent violation for cyclists cited by the SPVM was running red lights, with bicycling on the sidewalk coming in second. Last year, both offences tallied roughly 1,000 tickets each, with red light violations increasing by 30 per cent between 2009 and 2010.

“We do have a bike patrol, with officers using bikes,” Ian Lafrenière, a spokesman for the SPVM, commented. “We want to make sure that everybody is using the street together and arriving home safe and sound together.”

Liam Walker, a volunteer at the Flat (a McGill student-run bike collective), who admits to frequently biking through red lights, recounted his experience getting a ticket.

He was approaching a corner when he saw that no cars were coming. The opposing walk signal was counting down from five. “I said to myself: ‘okay, I’ll go’… and this guy just stepped out [from the sidewalk to give me a ticket].”

Hélène Brisson, the Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee’s liaison to McGill University, feels cyclists need to better understand the rules of the road.

“It seems to me, as someone who is on foot all the time, that people need a reminder of the bylaws and to respect each other… it’s sometimes very difficult to cross any street,” Brisson said. She did, however, note that she has not heard complaints regarding bicyclists in the area.

Joël Pedneault, SSMU’s Vice President External Affairs, was also of the opinion that the increased ticketing of bicyclists is not a result of local complaints, reiterating that he had not received any complaints.

The SPVM confirmed the same was true of pedestrians.

“We will continue [to enforce the traffic laws] … because our goal is [to] bring down the number of incidents with bicycles and pedestrians,” Lafrenière said.

The SPVM had a piece of advice to those who bike and those who walk to school every day.

“If people stop, they won’t get a ticket,” Lafrenière said.