Where do you bike?
Another discussion question came up to me today as I biked down to the farmer's market in downtown St. Albert today. I was biking along the river, which has a lovely walking trail... and suddenly, a chain link fence barred my way. Apparently they were doing construction on something in that little valley - I think a sports field of some description. But that's no call to close down about a kilometer of picturesque bike paths! I felt completely justified going down to the river and bypassing the fence. Nobody works on construction sites on Saturdays.
(Nobody works on construction sites EVER.)
Anyway, once I'd picked the leaves out of my hair (I had to push my way through the woods to get around the barrier on the other side of the "construction zone" too) I got to thinking about another bicycle issue.
Should you ride on the road, or the side walk?
Now I need to preface my discussion here. I'm not talking about bicycle-friendly European cities like Amsterdam, with their bicycle-only lanes and bicycle parking lots and such. I'm talking about Edmonton, which has several dozen (I believe) bicycle fatalities every year because of collisions with cars, that has next to no bicycle lanes.
(I think the justification is - if the roads are covered with ice and snow for at least five or six or even eight months a year, why waste space on a lane that will be only used during the spring and summer months? HOGWASH, I SAY!)
Anyway, despite the lack of safe bicycle lanes and the preponderance of huge pickup trucks on our roads (thank you, Alberta cowboy hick stereotypes!), there are a few bylaws that insist that bikes, well, bike on the road with all of the cars.
Now, I can understand disallowing bikes to cycle along the sidewalk of the few very busy pedestrian areas we have, like Whyte Avenue. But everywhere else? Not so much.
I bike on the sidewalk. Why? Because almost nobody walks on them. A bicycle can more easily avoid a pedestrian than a motorised vehicle can avoid a cyclist. Also, the worst thing that can happen to a pedestrian if struck by a bike? Some bruises and scrapes, perhaps a broken limb.
Not a crumpled bicycle frame and a swished cyclist, like what happens when a cyclist is struck by, say, a truck. Going at, MINIMUM, like 60 km/h. (Speed limits within the city are 50km/h, but it's a rare driver who actually slows down THAT much.)
Now, why should I be forced to bike along the road with vehicles going at least 50 km/h faster than I do? Legally, they can't pass us if it's a one-lane road. This just causes frustration on behalf of the driver, causing even more danger for the cyclist. Most motorists in Edmonton, at least, don't really know how to share the roads safely with cyclists. (Most motorists in Edmonton are idiots who should never have passed their driver's tests, but that may be a subjective opinion on my part.)
I'm not just talking out of my rear end, guys. Four years ago, I was hit by a car while biking to work in the morning. I still feel far safer biking on the almost abandoned sidewalks than on the potholed road, plzkthankz. This is a very relevant issue to me. Judging by the preponderance of "ghost bicycles" (bikes painted white and tied to a lamppost near where a cyclist is killed as a kind of memorial and reminder) around the city, I'm sure it's relevant to others as well.
If the City of Edmonton cannot provide cyclists with a safe bike lane, why can we not legally use the sidewalks?
Discuss.
(Nobody works on construction sites EVER.)
Anyway, once I'd picked the leaves out of my hair (I had to push my way through the woods to get around the barrier on the other side of the "construction zone" too) I got to thinking about another bicycle issue.
Should you ride on the road, or the side walk?
Now I need to preface my discussion here. I'm not talking about bicycle-friendly European cities like Amsterdam, with their bicycle-only lanes and bicycle parking lots and such. I'm talking about Edmonton, which has several dozen (I believe) bicycle fatalities every year because of collisions with cars, that has next to no bicycle lanes.
(I think the justification is - if the roads are covered with ice and snow for at least five or six or even eight months a year, why waste space on a lane that will be only used during the spring and summer months? HOGWASH, I SAY!)
Anyway, despite the lack of safe bicycle lanes and the preponderance of huge pickup trucks on our roads (thank you, Alberta cowboy hick stereotypes!), there are a few bylaws that insist that bikes, well, bike on the road with all of the cars.
Now, I can understand disallowing bikes to cycle along the sidewalk of the few very busy pedestrian areas we have, like Whyte Avenue. But everywhere else? Not so much.
I bike on the sidewalk. Why? Because almost nobody walks on them. A bicycle can more easily avoid a pedestrian than a motorised vehicle can avoid a cyclist. Also, the worst thing that can happen to a pedestrian if struck by a bike? Some bruises and scrapes, perhaps a broken limb.
Not a crumpled bicycle frame and a swished cyclist, like what happens when a cyclist is struck by, say, a truck. Going at, MINIMUM, like 60 km/h. (Speed limits within the city are 50km/h, but it's a rare driver who actually slows down THAT much.)
Now, why should I be forced to bike along the road with vehicles going at least 50 km/h faster than I do? Legally, they can't pass us if it's a one-lane road. This just causes frustration on behalf of the driver, causing even more danger for the cyclist. Most motorists in Edmonton, at least, don't really know how to share the roads safely with cyclists. (Most motorists in Edmonton are idiots who should never have passed their driver's tests, but that may be a subjective opinion on my part.)
I'm not just talking out of my rear end, guys. Four years ago, I was hit by a car while biking to work in the morning. I still feel far safer biking on the almost abandoned sidewalks than on the potholed road, plzkthankz. This is a very relevant issue to me. Judging by the preponderance of "ghost bicycles" (bikes painted white and tied to a lamppost near where a cyclist is killed as a kind of memorial and reminder) around the city, I'm sure it's relevant to others as well.
If the City of Edmonton cannot provide cyclists with a safe bike lane, why can we not legally use the sidewalks?
Discuss.