Cycling

Recently there has been a lot of media published surrounding the highly politicized mode of transportation: cycling. Especially since this week a bicycle courier was killed this week in Toronto, and the CEO of Invest Toronto has been charged, although it is not yet known how the cyclist was killed...hopefully we will find this out soon but as of yet we can only speculate. You can find the article here. On September 1st, cyclists protested and remembered him by screaming "murder" and blocking up traffic in the middle of rush hour, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Consequently, the Star has started publishing a series on cycling in the city with 5 parts each covering a different issue of cycling in each of the 5 parts. As someone who cycles to work every day, I am really glad to see that the issue of "drivers vs. cyclists" is finally getting some media attention. Last month, I posted a link on my facebook profile regarding a horrible incident in Ottawa where 5 professional cyclists were run over by someone in a minivan. At leat 2 of them ended up in critical condition, and all 5 were in designated cycle lanes with helmets on.

That was such a horrible thing for me to read, and I thought that it should really be getting major news coverage, but it did not. The article I've linked above was the longest most detailed account I could find, and yet I have had difficulty finding out if those cyclists survived or what has happened to the driver who has since been charged.

I have so often been intimidated by drivers in their cars who somehow have no patience for cyclists, nor can they understand that we have equal right to the road as they have. With roads becoming more and more congested and the cost of gas/maintaining a vehicle becoming prohibitivly expensive, bicycling is a practical cost efficient method of transportation. It keeps you in shape, gets you to your destination in a reasonable amount of time, and it's really quite pleasant to be out in the outdoors rather than idling in a car.

The blatant attempted murder of those 5 people in Ottawa and the death of the cycle courier really says to me that we need to be paying more attention to what is happening to cyclists on the road. Motorists need to be accountable- they don't check their blind spots, or they even try to run you off the road sometimes. It is so easy to get run over when you're cycling that sometimes when I hear a car coming up behind me I am praying inside that they'll just pass me and not hit me. As a cyclist it's all about defensive driving (as opposed to offensive) because you have assume that the motorists don't see you.

The thing about this whole issue that really gets to me is that other people can have so much rage towards people who are bicycling on the street that they can do such horrible things like run them over and kill them! Life is precious, and each person who is riding or driving has people they love and want to spend their time with each other, and if you kill someone you take that away from them forever. Death cannot be erased, cyclists should be able to ride on the road safely without fear of dying a senseless and painful death!

What needs to happen is that everyone needs to share the road, so there needs to be education involved in order to make this happen.

Articles in the Mean Street Series:

Bike Vs. Car Battle... I definitely didn't know that cyclists are entitled to take up a whole lane!

Sharing the Road

Making the City Safer

Responses to the series

What a Cycling City Looks like in Copenhagen- heaven...

It's late now, but I'll have to post some pictures of Copenhagen tomorrow if I have time!