In the span of less than a single hour on August 26 — two different addicts in two different parts of Calgary — jumped in front of my motorcycle and intentionally tried to get run over. One addict in Calgary's increasingly dystopian downtown I can write off as a death wish. But a second — roughly 50 minutes later? I fear something more sinister could be afoot. Here's the story in short. I was making a short ride from the Western Standard's office in the downtown core of Calgary to an appointment eight minutes away in the Beltline. While riding into an underpass, an addict appeared walking directly toward me in a divided, one-way traffic lane. I honked, then swerved. He countered, and we were on a collision course again. I honked again, braked, and swerved around him, again. He smiled. Nobody was hurt. Following my appointment, I rode to Canada Olympic Park to pick up something. I left it through a little-known back road to avoid traffic. Near an underpass of Stoney Trail, another addict appeared out of nowhere on the road directly in front of me, clearly attempting to be run over. I honked and swerved around him. He smiled. Nobody was hurt. In both cases, the addicts were on low-to medium-speed roads where a collision with a motorcycle would be likely to inflict injury but not be fatal. In both cases, the addicts were waiting in areas with low traffic (at that time, anyway) where there would be few or no witnesses. These men did not appear to have a death wish. They would have jumped in front of a truck on a high-speed road if they did. After thinking it over, my best guess is that they wished to be injured (not killed) and that they did not want witnesses to the intentional collision on their part. If my suspicion is correct, it could be a dangerous new scam to extract insurance damages from bikers. As a default in motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions, police are much more likely to assign blame to the driver. In the absence of witnesses (as both of my would-be victims ensured), they would have a case to make that I was at fault and should be liable to pay them damages. Addicts need help, but they also need some tough love. They have learned from experience that they are impervious to the law. In Canada, the law does not apply to the ultra-rich or the ultra-poor—just those of us with enough to lose but not enough to buy our way out of it. In another motorbike-addict incident this time last year, a homeless man pushed over my brand-new Indian while it was parked at the downtown Western Standard office, just for fun. He caused significant superficial damage and broke the front brake (hand) lever. I obtained a picture of his likeness from the security footage and rode around between our office and CrackMacs until I found him. Our Business Reporter, Shaun Polczer, tracked him on foot while I tracked him on my bike while we waited for police to arrive. .He was arrested and charged, and then he was released back onto the streets. He never showed up for his court date, and the Calgary Police Service informed me that they would do nothing to bring him in. There would be no point.I could likely track him down for the police in less than the time it takes me to write this column, but both he, I, and the police, know that nothing will come from it. He can terrorize Calgary with impunity.The police officer levelled with me and told me the obvious: he would pay no damages for intentionally causing thousands of dollars in damage to my property. You can't get blood from a stone.Fast forward a few days from that incident, and I was almost fatally injured in a motorcycle crash, at least in part because of the damaged brake lever (and yes, I know I shouldn't have been riding the damaged bike, mom).Which brings me back to the "crack-hoppers" I encountered while riding yesterday. I have little faith that, in the absence of witnesses, the fault would be laid appropriately, so I'm buying a dash cam before this day is out.But even with a dash cam to protect me from the scam's financial damages, this is wildly dangerous to the rider and the addict alike. One or both of us could be killed or badly injured. Even if a rider is able to swerve around the addict, the chance of still crashing is very high.And even if that crash does not result in serious injury to the rider, there will be damage to the bike.And what are the chances that the addict would be forced to cough up the money for the damaged property? See my own example from above.Maybe it was just a very unlucky day that saw two addicts try to get intentionally run over by me in less than an hour. Quite possible.But I fear this could be a dangerous new scam that will eventually cost a lot of money and, eventually, lives..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
In the span of less than a single hour on August 26 — two different addicts in two different parts of Calgary — jumped in front of my motorcycle and intentionally tried to get run over. One addict in Calgary's increasingly dystopian downtown I can write off as a death wish. But a second — roughly 50 minutes later? I fear something more sinister could be afoot. Here's the story in short. I was making a short ride from the Western Standard's office in the downtown core of Calgary to an appointment eight minutes away in the Beltline. While riding into an underpass, an addict appeared walking directly toward me in a divided, one-way traffic lane. I honked, then swerved. He countered, and we were on a collision course again. I honked again, braked, and swerved around him, again. He smiled. Nobody was hurt. Following my appointment, I rode to Canada Olympic Park to pick up something. I left it through a little-known back road to avoid traffic. Near an underpass of Stoney Trail, another addict appeared out of nowhere on the road directly in front of me, clearly attempting to be run over. I honked and swerved around him. He smiled. Nobody was hurt. In both cases, the addicts were on low-to medium-speed roads where a collision with a motorcycle would be likely to inflict injury but not be fatal. In both cases, the addicts were waiting in areas with low traffic (at that time, anyway) where there would be few or no witnesses. These men did not appear to have a death wish. They would have jumped in front of a truck on a high-speed road if they did. After thinking it over, my best guess is that they wished to be injured (not killed) and that they did not want witnesses to the intentional collision on their part. If my suspicion is correct, it could be a dangerous new scam to extract insurance damages from bikers. As a default in motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions, police are much more likely to assign blame to the driver. In the absence of witnesses (as both of my would-be victims ensured), they would have a case to make that I was at fault and should be liable to pay them damages. Addicts need help, but they also need some tough love. They have learned from experience that they are impervious to the law. In Canada, the law does not apply to the ultra-rich or the ultra-poor—just those of us with enough to lose but not enough to buy our way out of it. In another motorbike-addict incident this time last year, a homeless man pushed over my brand-new Indian while it was parked at the downtown Western Standard office, just for fun. He caused significant superficial damage and broke the front brake (hand) lever. I obtained a picture of his likeness from the security footage and rode around between our office and CrackMacs until I found him. Our Business Reporter, Shaun Polczer, tracked him on foot while I tracked him on my bike while we waited for police to arrive. .He was arrested and charged, and then he was released back onto the streets. He never showed up for his court date, and the Calgary Police Service informed me that they would do nothing to bring him in. There would be no point.I could likely track him down for the police in less than the time it takes me to write this column, but both he, I, and the police, know that nothing will come from it. He can terrorize Calgary with impunity.The police officer levelled with me and told me the obvious: he would pay no damages for intentionally causing thousands of dollars in damage to my property. You can't get blood from a stone.Fast forward a few days from that incident, and I was almost fatally injured in a motorcycle crash, at least in part because of the damaged brake lever (and yes, I know I shouldn't have been riding the damaged bike, mom).Which brings me back to the "crack-hoppers" I encountered while riding yesterday. I have little faith that, in the absence of witnesses, the fault would be laid appropriately, so I'm buying a dash cam before this day is out.But even with a dash cam to protect me from the scam's financial damages, this is wildly dangerous to the rider and the addict alike. One or both of us could be killed or badly injured. Even if a rider is able to swerve around the addict, the chance of still crashing is very high.And even if that crash does not result in serious injury to the rider, there will be damage to the bike.And what are the chances that the addict would be forced to cough up the money for the damaged property? See my own example from above.Maybe it was just a very unlucky day that saw two addicts try to get intentionally run over by me in less than an hour. Quite possible.But I fear this could be a dangerous new scam that will eventually cost a lot of money and, eventually, lives..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
