politics

If a motorist hits a cyclist, they often try to excuse themselves by claiming they "didn't see" the cyclist.

I'd be hard-pressed to put a good spin on this, though mayoral candidate Smitherman is certainly trying his best. Smitherman is jumping on the rhetoric bandwagon and is calling for a 'moratorium' on bike lanes in Toronto. In the meanwhile the 2011 money for bike lanes will go to repaving the bike lanes that are deteriorating such as Sherbourne.

The Ontario government should create a $20 million Ontario Bicycling Investment Fund with the extra money that will be collected through the new HST. This is one of the recommendations found in the Green Paper (pdf) released by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition last Friday.

Currently bicycles and bike safety equipment are PST exempt, but this will change with the new HST when the province starts collecting it in July.

In case you haven't noticed, it's an election year in Toronto, and right-wing candidate Rossi in a bid to win some right-wing votes has made some bold statements about stopping unsafe and environmentally unsound bike lanes.

Rocco Rossi came out swinging today in his anti-bike rant: "(Rossi) promises to ban future bike lanes from all arterial roads plus review those which already have been built on major roads." (Globe)

"Jarvis has to be stopped." he told reporters.

So, we're talking Bloor and Jarvis, etc. Nice.

There was a lot of trash talk about the supposed 'War on the Car' this year. There will be more next year I am sure. Last time I checked it was you and me and dare I say even those who drive
who suffer the effects of car culture, or shall we say, high-carbon consumer capitalism. So get ready for the next stage when car drivers fight back against bike lanes. You know it's coming.

Mayor Miller got the chance to spin around on a "Copenhagen wheel" while at the global climate change negotiations. The Mayor is reported as saying he'd like to make biking and walking a priority for Toronto. What that means: bike lanes, snow clearing for cyclists, and priority green lights for bikes: