Letter I wish I wrote to Globe & Mail...

[da]

[Tuesday's Globe and Mail back-page article was from a man who defended riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, running red lights, and taking one-way streets the wrong way. Because he thinks it's safer that way.]

By all means, A. H. should push for more bicycle lanes, for improved public transit and for increased traffic-law enforcement. But the fact that cars are dangerous to cyclists does not mean that cyclists are not dangerous to pedestrians. Mr. H. doesn't have a leg to stand on, and it appears that he doesn't much care whether I do, either. N. L, Toronto

Darn right.

Comments

[zanate.livejournal.com]

Good letter.

I don't so much mind "A. H."'s apparent motivation of trying to maximize his safety, as opposed to maximize his adherance to the traffic code. There are exceptional cases where bending the rules by a cyclist probably results in lower overall risk.

But that's just it-- overall risk. The point that a bicycle is dangerous to a pedestrian is an excellent observation. Most of the "rule-bending" situations arise from avoiding undue risk from automobiles, which are substantially less at risk from bicycles as vice-versa. (Before anyone *cough*the_nita*cough* calls me on it, I'm not saying there's zero risk, or even small risk, it's just much less, relatively speaking.)

But if you're reducing your own risk as a cyclist by offloading that risk onto a pedestrian, you are...

*ahem*

Ready for it?

...no better than an SUV driver.

There it is. Right there. Selfishly putting others at risk for some small benefit to yourself. SUV drivers. And reckless pedestrian-dodging cyclists. They're the same.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

Very good point. It drives me bananas when people run lights, ride on the sidewalk, etc. You know, when I drive, it'd be safer for me to go out at night and knife everyone's tires so there would be no cars on the road the next morning. However, obviously I can't do that. When you live in a community, you have to think about the other people in that community as well, not just about yourself.

When I cycle in Toronto, I use the streets, as you're supposed to. I've never had a problem, and it seems to be quite safe, provided that you actually follow the rules, signal your turns, etc.

The problem with people who ride on the sidewalks, run reds, move between the sidewalk and road, etc., is that they're unpredictable. Because they're making up their own rules as they go along, it's impossible to tell what they're going to do next.

The key to read safety, both for yourself and others, is predictability. If everybody knows what's happening around them, then generally most people are pretty safe drivers / riders / pedestrians. It's when unpredictable elements come in to play that problems happen.

Also, even if you just want to look at it as a matter of personal safety, I'm a frequent cyclist, but I'm also a frequent pedestrian. I imagine most cyclists are. I've almost been hit by people barreling around corners or over hills on bikes on sidewalks numerous times. If everyone took to riding on the sidewalk, it'd become quite dangerous to walk on them. I bet any increased safety while cycling would be more than made up for by decreased safety while walking.