In a week when cycling advocates are urging people across Metro Vancouver to commute to work via their bikes, Stanley Hsu is steering in the opposite direction.
It’s not because Hsu is anti-bike or addicted to his car; it’s because he was cut off and almost run over by a Coast Mountain transit bus in Richmond during his daily, 45-minute cycle home from work as an architect in Vancouver.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t a great start to Bike to Work Week on Tuesday evening for Hsu, who escaped with a bruised elbow, after being side-swiped by a bus at around 6:30 p.m. on Garden City Road — between Bridgeport Road and Sea Island Way.
And in case anyone wishes to pitch the incident as his word against the bus driver’s, Hsu has “handlebar cam” footage to prove it.
“It was pretty scary, but I’m only slightly bruised, around the elbow,” Hsu told the News on Wednesday.
“I thought we were supposed to share the road, but this bus driver obviously thinks that he has the right of way from behind. He simply just honked the horn.
“This morning, though, I woke up and I was thankful to still be alive. Then I felt really angry, as (the driver) was coming from behind me and he was able to see everything.”
Hsu has already contacted TransLink to complain about the incident.
A spokesperson for TransLink said Hsu’s feedback was “assigned as Priority 1,” meaning the service’s target is to “investigate the actions of the bus operator, and follow-up with the customer within two business days. Safety is one of our core values as an organization, and we take complaints like this seriously.”
Ironically, Hsu said he got the bike “dashcam” via a Kickstarter campaign about a month ago in case “someone tries to kill me on the road.”
Hsu said he’s been cycling to work in the summer months from his home near Blundell and No. 4 roads for the past four years or so.
He cycles west to Garden City Road and then north on Garden City all the way to the Canada Line bridge into Vancouver.
“The entire stretch of Garden City Road is great, it has a cycle lane for most of the way,” explained Hsu.
“It’s just that little section between Sea Island Way and Bridgeport that it disappears and you have to share the road with the traffic.
“I’ve also contacted the City of Richmond, but I guess the road is too narrow there for the bike lane to continue?”
It’s usually pretty slow at that intersection, said Hsu, but he’s now having second thoughts about getting back in the saddle – a decision which might not end up being his own.
“It’s going to be a while I think. I’m still pretty scared,” he said.
“And I haven’t told my wife yet; she will probably ban me from cycling for life. Maybe next week I’ll give it another try.”
