[Title Edited: Too Soon]

Following my morning bicycle commute, I generally check the local headlines prior to getting to work. I just happened upon this cautionary tale of taxi-drivers, cyclists, hit-and-runs, and involuntary amputations:

'Was it a hit-and-run? An attempted robbery?

Police are still trying to iron out the details of a bizarre incident early Friday morning. A cyclist was taken to hospital after his leg was reportedly severed in a collision with a cab near the intersection of Dovercourt Rd. and Dundas St. It's believed the cab backed into the man, hit a pole, and took off at about 2:30am.

"We got a call at 2:27 this morning from witnesses that reported hearing two males arguing, quite a heated argument from our understanding," revealed Sgt. Tim Burrows of Toronto Police Traffic Services. "The next sounds that were brought to their attention was the sound of a collision that occurred."

The injured man was taken to hospital where doctors worked to reattach his leg.'

See the rest of the story here.

Now, this story is particularly resonant with me, as a. I am a semi-avid cyclist, and b. this occurred only several blocks away from my house. Anyhow, it's a super-disturbing story, and it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds, but I can't help but feel a little bit biased against the cabbie in question.

While it may not be true that the cyclist tried to, ahem, rob the cabbie, it's the hit-and-run which disturbs me the most. As a cyclist, I'm half-way terrified of cab drivers as is, but the very fact that he fled from the scene of the crime, leaving a one-legged man to bleed to death, only exacerbated my mistrust - which probably isn't justified in the first place.

While I'm admittedly not the most cautious of cyclists, this seems like a little bit of an extreme reaction of road rage. Cyclists will decry the lack of bike lanes and the lack of respect from motorists; motorists will decry the recklessness of urban cyclists - but, really, I would have never guessed that the situation would have escalated into severed-limb territory. Here's to wishing the best of luck to the cyclist - even if he was at fault - as the universe needs more Def Leppards and fewer Def Leppard drummers.

Anyways, back to scheduled programming.

Edit: From an updated Toronto Star article;

'The cyclist was taken to St. Michael's Hospital in serious condition, where doctors worked to reattach the severed limb.

The surgery was unsuccessful, and the victim remains in the critical care unit of the hospital, said Burrows. "Right now we're just hoping he'll survive his injuries."'

Check out the rest here.

Best of luck to the cyclist; despite my oft-snarky-bordering-on-insolent tone, it's a terrible thing to happen and cabs represent one of my biggest fears as a cyclist. Hopefully, if anything, this story leads to heightened awareness of cyclists on the road.