[telegraph.hill]

One great way to save resources, cut down on pollution, save money and keep fit, is to cycle instead of taking the car. Obviously this is only feasible for relatively short journeys.

However, one of the major stumbling blocks in this respect is safety. Many cyclists have accidents on the roads every year. Usually this is the fault of motorists, who are inclined not to notice bicycles. So what we really need is cycle lanes.

There are no cycle lanes in my home town, and UK law does not permit riding on the sidewalk, so I am not that keen to go about by bicycle round here. Some cities, such as York and Amsterdam, have cycle lanes.

What's it like where you live? I think we need a concerted campaign for safe cycle lanes, so that more people would be encouraged to go by bicycle.

[Turtle Girl]

I agree with your premise but must disagree about motorists being at fault in most cases. A lot of the time (at least in places where I have lived), cyclists think they have the right of way and ignore traffic laws. This behavior puts both motorists and cyclists at risk. For instance, cyclists often cut across lanes of traffic and drive between stopped cars on major roads, ignore red lights and stop signs, cycle on the wrong side of the street, etc. Yes, cycling lanes help, but cyclists must be responsible enough to obey the same traffic laws we all do.

[Matc]

I would have to agreewith Turtle Girl, having gone to university in a bike city (Cambridge) it is appalling to see how bad the cyclists are. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.

Also I'm not sure how effective cycle lanes are. Most of the ones in Britain can be parked on by motorists meaning you then have to go out into the road to get around them. Also the more cycles there are the more they are used to you and the less space they give you. I felt a lot less safe in Cambridge than I have done in most other places (and I used to cycle a lot).

If you want proper cycle lanes then they need to be off road. Also bike theft is a huge problem where there are any number of bikes

[Raptor235]

We need more lanes in Toronto as well... downtown is just a night mare... I got hit last year and now I'm very nervous around cars... especially people looking one way and starting to drive the other... arggg

Also I had 3 bikes now stolen two of them in Toronto, one from an underground garage with a security fance... Toronto is very bad for bikes... I would love to get an electric powered bike but at this rate it's not a good investment if someone steals it in a few months...

[horselover]

Oh yeah the horror stories in T.O. I agree with your argh Raptor and second it with my tales of horror.

Taxi drivers, I believe, are the worst idiots on our streets. A few years ago I was riding up Broadview ave when the idiot driver of a Maple Leaf cab parked his car, didn't look and opened his door. I had no time to react, hit the door, and slid underneath it.

Well unfortunately I sprained my writing wrist in 2 places, had to have it splinted, and still had to go to school and take part in a hands on course using, ironically, hand tools. My bike was damaged almost beyond repair, and even though it was fixed, it still was damaged and didn't work right.

I can't remember if this was before or after my back wheel got stolen in broad daylight after locking it in the backyard.

Well, unfortunately, a week after I was fit enough to ride it to school again, the bike, sans seat(since I had it with me), was stolen in broad daylight right outside a coffee shop. And no one saw it happen. A cheap, damaged bike with no seat.

My wrist still bothers me to this day, especially at work, but I don't let it get in the way.


As for riding on the sidewalk, although it's against the law here in Toronto, people still do it. And the cops do nothing. Down on Lakeshore there are big signs that say no bikes on sidewalks, but still no one pays any heed to them.

I agree with you Raptor that more cycle lanes are needed in T.O, but they "claim" that it will cause problems with cars on the roads by narrowing the lanes. Bikes are vehicles too and belong on the road. Sidewalks are just that: a place to walk. It's not called a sidebike I tell idiots on the sidewalk sometimes. I say get a helmet, ride on the road, but use caution at all times.

It only takes a split second for disaster to strike.

[shadowbot]

I'd love to be able to ride a bike around the city but definitely dont trust the cars and trucks. I just dont want to take the risk. How many people do you know that have had fender benders in cars? Well a bike having a fender bender with a car is more like the person on the bike gets hurt, either serious or not and the person in the car doesnt suffer in the least. This attitude causes drivers to be less careful of bikes, no matter who is at fault the person on the bike is going to be the one injured.

[horselover]

I haven't ridden much since my accident, but when I do, I really pay attention to my surroundings. Don't need a repeat of what happened.

[savinggreen]

I live in Ottawa and it is a very bike-friendly city, so it's no surprise that loads of people cycle to work/school.

We have two rivers and a canal running through town with bike paths along both sides of them. In the non-winter months, you can actually tell when it's rush hour from the volume of cyclists along these paths. There are also bike lanes in some of the downtown streets (although not enough), and many of the buses have racks on the front for your bike so that you can integrate the two modes of commuting. The City website even offers a bike map (for a marginal $2 fee), and has a bike section on its website (http://ottawa.ca/city_services/traff...ng/cy_en.shtml).

Plus, every Sunday morning from May 24 to Labour day, all of the parkways in town are closed to traffic so that cyclists and inline skaters can enjoy some pavement in peace.

[Raptor235]

I love that in Ottawa they close down that highway on sundays for only bikes we have that in Toronto only once a year...

[cats3]

I studied in Denmark for awhile and I loved the bike lanes there.

Here in Essex County, NJ, there are steep mountain roads which scare me even if there were
no motorists around.

I like biking on flatter roads with few motorists.