We know cyclists' lives are considered cheap. Jonathan Goldsbie in the Eye Weekly's "Kill a cyclist, pay $110", explains well cyclists' frustration and anger that their lives are worth little once they step onto a bike. And, to add insult to injury we pay $110 if we don't have a bell. Where is the proportion in that?
The combination of lax enforcement and poor infrastructure create a perfect weapon. Why bother get a gun and risk criminal charges? Just get into a car and open the door when your least favorite cyclist rides by. To bring back some sense of justice perhaps the cyclist should be appropriately armed as well (thanks Jonathan for mentioning the scene from Hot Fuzz).
This nonchalant attitude has carried over into municipal politics as councillors continue to stall the advancement of a bikeway network. Something about needing parking in their wards. God forbid we force residents to cross the street to their car. Still, it warms the heart to have some councillors understand our plight:
"There is a plan. And it's all the cycling community has been asking us for for a decade. It is all they've been asking for. They don't need a speech. They don't want to hear any of these speeches. They want the lanes. They just want us to do it." Shelley Carroll (Ward 33 Don Valley East)
Comments
luke (not verified)
Building bike lanes on quiet
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 03:22Building bike lanes on quiet two-lane roads is a waste. Lanes are needed in busy throughfares. Sharrows are best for the residential streets.
jamesmallon (not verified)
Sharrows?
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 09:12Oh, give me a break. You think a Toronto driver notices, much less cares about sharrows? Same can be said for bike lanes, or even the humans on the bikes: they don't care. If the cops would just make them care, but they'd have to care.
It's a jungle; treat it that way and you may live - or not.
dash (not verified)
list of fines
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 14:26There was a link to the list of offenses a cyclist can be fined for. It was a pleasure to find out that I'd be fined $110 for not using hand signals, and $53 for taking my hands off the bars in scarborough (less in other municipalities).
Seriously, why don't I just go down to city hall and bend over.
hamish (not verified)
Councillor Carroll doesn't have it right
Sat, 10/04/2008 - 12:42The Bike Plan is a start, but it's really inadequate in some key areas: continuity; east-west core travel and tackling the carterials everywhere, but eg. Bloor, especially when it's being reconstructed, and even moreso when it was the #1 spot for east-west 15 years ago etc. etc. This "progressive" crowd responds to the slow installation of the tepid Bike Plan (and criticism) by chopping away a full two thirds of the former Toronto Cycling Committee, which yes, I was on, (but I'd also said I was too frustrated with it all to continue). The Pedestrian Cttee was not similarly targetted, and we already have sidewalks on most streets.
It is however, very difficult to press for better biking conditions sometimes, with some of the antics of the two-wheeled passholespeedsters; it may be hard to go to some memorials.
Darren_S
This is a bit off
Sat, 10/04/2008 - 18:28with some of the antics of the two-wheeled passholespeedsters; it may be hard to go to some memorials.
Come on Hamish. This is off base. These are not the people that are getting killed in Toronto. More often than not they are law abiding, street smart cyclists.