On my bike ride in to work this morning I passed by a cyclist that was stopped on the other side of the road on
Lancaster just past the Union St. traffic lights.
It looked like the cyclist had been
stopped by a Police Officer as the cruiser lights were flashing and it appeared that the officer was writing out a ticket.
There were no other vehicles or pedestrians, or anyone else around and the cyclist was just waiting on the sidewalk and did not look very happy.
I’m not sure what he did wrong, whether he was riding on the sidewalk or had gone through a red light, or what, but it was clear that he was getting a ticket for something.
I Just wanted to remind other cyclists out there that when you are biking you are considered a vehicle under the Highway Traffic Act and you still have to obey all traffic laws just like the cars do. Red lights...... that's a given - you just have to wait till it goes green. Drivers are not expecting cyclists on the sidewalks and even if the driver does look before backing out of their laneway or turning at an intersection, cyclists move much faster than a pedestrian and can catch the driver off guard. The safest place for bikers is on the side of the road where drivers will be looking for other vehicles. Now, having said that, cyclists need to take that extra bit of caution to make sure that they are seen by traffic in all directions, including traffic approaching them from behind. I have seen a number of bikers out there dressed in black or with a dark back pack on and they just blend in and are hard to see. I try to wear something bright while I am biking, to make me feel more confident that the other vehicles will see me and I will make it there safely.
Terri R.
As a participant in the challenge, I became conscious about how uneven cyclists are about basic rules of the road. The cars don't always share the road as much as I might like, but I rarely noticed cars breaking the law.
ReplyDeleteCyclist were another story. It was rare for me to complete my commute without seeing a cyclist breaking the law in an obvious way. And not just kids on the sidewalk, which I can understand, but adults on the sidewalk, running lights and stop signs, going the wrong way, and more. It has often felt hard to assert my right to the road when many of the cyclists around me are engaged in free for all.
Lots of very disciplined cyclists too, of course, which always made me feel better.