A few years ago, I lived in Lund, a southern Swedish city not far from Copenhagen. Like the famous Danish capital, it had cycling infrastructure that North Americans can currently only dream of: bicycle parking lots with racks to lock up hundreds of bikes at once, traffic lights to allow bikes to enter an intersection safely a few seconds ahead of the cars, and even a bicycle “highway” leading to neighbouring towns. But what struck me the most was how predictably the cyclists of Lund behaved — compared with those here.
I’m always wary of colliding with my fellow Montreal cyclists, many of whom routinely run red lights, pass other bikes on the right and generally act as though anything goes. Their conduct also stresses and angers motorists, some of whom show a more impatient attitude toward my own presence on the streets than they might otherwise.
