Fighting for your right of way with a large truck may be a Toronto cyclist's legal right, but it's not a smart idea, a Toronto Traffic Services spokesperson told CBC News Online on Friday.

Sgt. Brian Bowman was commenting in the wake of two tragic cycling accidents on Thursday involving large trucks that left a pair of people dead.

In the first, a dump truck travelling south on Avenue Road, north of Eglinton Avenue West, attempted a right turn on to Cortleigh Boulevard during Thursday morning rush hour. A southbound cyclist in the trucker's blind spot was struck by the vehicle, suffering fatal head injuries.

Police were investigating, but no charges had been laid as of Friday.

In the second incident, a teenaged girl was killed just before 9 p.m. on Thursday evening when a tractor-trailer travelling west on Finch Avenue West made a right turn to go north on Keele Street. The vehicle struck the 16-year-old cyclist who either entered the roadway from the sidewalk on the northeast corner, or was on the road attempting to go through the light.

Police said Friday that the cyclist may have been consuming alcohol and they were conducting toxicology tests.

Bowman said whenever someone riding a bike comes up against a large vehicle, there's usually only one possible outcome.

"It's cold comfort when a collision occurs and the cyclist is in the right," he said. "The laws of physics dictate the cyclist will come out on the wrong side and become a statistic on our board."

Cyclist in blind spot
Cyclist in a legal, but dangerous position      

The best approach, Bowman said, is to err on the side of caution, including assuming a truck is going to turn in front of you, rather than waiting to see if it does.

Fatal accidents involving bikes and trucks are not common in Toronto – there were three in all of 2005 – and two in one day is extremely rare, officials say. But accidents involving bikes and vehicles of all kinds happen all the time.

Last year, there were 1,211 reported incidents between bikes and vehicles, resulting in the three deaths.

"It's a regular occurrence, and very under-reported," said Bowman. "I attend monthly meetings of the Toronto Cycling Committee and I've also been involved with other cycling associations, and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence of conflicts with vehicles that never get reported."

Often that's because the driver of the vehicle does not remain on the scene – sometimes they aren't even aware something has occurred. At other times the incidents just result in screaming matches between the two involved parties.