I am sure everyone reading this article is sick in their stomach to think that it can happen to all of us. I have just recently been hit by a car a needed a plate and six screw to put my shoulder back together again lucky. Since the accident all I can think about is what is going to make the difference and how do we bring respect to the road I am sure that won't be Chris's last ride.

Yes I totally agree, it seems all over the world people in cars just dont want to take 10 seconds out of their lives slow down and give a cyclist some room. Whats at stake, someones life!! And for what? Drivers dont go off their heads when a bus pulls over and they have to go around, it perplexes me with what the big deal is.Its a small incovience is it not ?

But at last the authorities over in Canada are seeing sense - the fact that the accused used his vehicle as a weapon. Some sense! The authorities over here have yet to see the light.

I am so sorry to read about what happened to Mr Kasztelewicz, my young brother recently lost his right leg after a severe resistant hospital infection (MRSA) and I know how traumatic this can be. I have cycled in Canada during the mid 90s and always found the drivers very courteous towards me.

I live in Scotland and the road safety and legal conditions for cyclists here are terrible. We have produced some great cyclists, including Olympic champion Chris Hoy and Mark Beaumont, who cycled around the world in 194 days but many drivers here drive with little respect for the safety of cyclists and many are very aggressive towards someone whom they see as an obstacle that is slowing up their journey. In addition, in the event of an "accident" drivers are rarely punished with much more than a fine.

I do not own a car and have cycled everywhere for over 30 years. I have been very badly injured three times ( all in Scotland) and not one accident was my fault. In one case my pelvis was broken by a driver who admitted privately that he chose to swerve into me rather than clip a van coming the other way and damage his paintwork. Not one driver was ever charged as I was always alone and the drivers had friends or family were in the car and unwilling to testify for me. In January this year a champion Scottish cyclist was killed by a "careless" driver while training and the driver was eventually fined 500 pounds and banned from driving for 6 months.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2420620.0.driver_who_killed_champion_cyclist_walks_from_court.php

Contrast this with the laws in Holland and Germany (where I lived for 8 years). In these countries the traffic regulations are actually biased in favor of cyclists and pedestrian. In the event of a bike-car collision, the legal burden is on motorists to prove that they weren't at fault, and Dutch drivers are financially liable even if cyclists are at fault (I am not sure I agree with this). These laws make a huge difference to cycling safety in these countries have always felt much safer while cycling.

If governments are really serious about addressing climate change they must first address cycling road safety issues. In countries where these have been addressed many more people use their bikes on a daily basis to commute, shop. etc. For instance, in Germany and Holland every train station has bike parks and often many thousands of bikes are parked there by commuters who use them to travel to the station. I believe that we need an international cycling pressure group, possibly linked to an environmental group, in order to bring pressure on the governments of the world. Who knows, with Obama replacing Bush this may also find success in the US, which is one of the most frightening places I have ever cycled.

I wish Mr Kasztelewicz all the best for the future and hope that the driver who injured him is punished severely.

id like to stand this cabbie up and reverse into him then drive off and see how he likes it. guessing not very much. The worrying thing is this moron piece of scum will get an inept punishment for changing another man's life for ever. no amount of compensation or punishment to this lowlife will bring chris' leg back and it angers me immensely that this sort of thing goes on all over the world on a daily basis and the situation will probably never change.

Funny that they felt the need to state the value of the bicycle, as if that made any difference!

I am a firm believer of the saying: "Choose your battles"... If I know I will get nothing out of the equation and I am still in one piece then I let it go. Here where I live there is no gun control and anyway you never know who may have one. Luckily the cab driver did not have a gun or else the cyclist would not be talking about it now. Let it go, count to 10 and in a matter of minutes everyone can live happily ever after in there own world.

Count to 10, breath, relax, let it go.

Bike - car: car wins

Bike-gun: gun wins

Bike-shut up: bike wins LOL

DD, the sick thing is that loss of a leg will be considered to be a terrible thing but in a legal sense hard to put a value on, therefore any damages for the loss of the leg will be nominal only. The bike on the other hand has a real value that an accountant can certify and which most likely will be paid out in full.

If he wins a damages award it probably won't be enough to compensate for loss of earnings etc, I don't know about Canada but in the UK payouts are limited to protect insurers and allow premiums to be at an affordable level, which of course is a far more important consideration than proper recompense for people injured by dangerous drivers...Hope he takes them to the cleaners myself.

Hope he can get a prostheic sorted as well and get back on his bike.