Get on the road!!!
I just came across this article, and while the accident itself is extremely discouraging, some of the comments from exclusive motorists who claim that cyclists need to be off the road are worse. I know that you're never supposed to actually read the comments on news sites, but the people who made these comments are controlling several tons of metal and taking my life into their hands. I know a lot of cyclists ride like tools, but there's there's too great a responsibility on the part of motorists for this sort of hostility and ignorance to be tolerated.
Cycling is not going away, is a morally superior activity to driving, and must be freely permitted on most major thoroughfares. Cycling on the sidewalk is very unsafe for both cyclists and pedestrians, and anyone who suggests it is only demonstrating their ignorance of safe cycling practice. The car dominance of North American cities is a historical mistake, and should be corrected as gracefully as possible. Cycling education should be mandatory (part of the school curriculum for children somewhere between 12 and 16), so that all potential drivers are familiar with the requirements of cyclists, and more likely to become so themselves. I'm so offended by the attitude of some of these motorists that I'm not even going to complain about the new trial bike lanes on the Burrard bridge as I originally intended. Now, I'm just glad to live in a city where cyclists are treated as important enough that they can actually win political battles of this magnitude.
Cycling is not going away, is a morally superior activity to driving, and must be freely permitted on most major thoroughfares. Cycling on the sidewalk is very unsafe for both cyclists and pedestrians, and anyone who suggests it is only demonstrating their ignorance of safe cycling practice. The car dominance of North American cities is a historical mistake, and should be corrected as gracefully as possible. Cycling education should be mandatory (part of the school curriculum for children somewhere between 12 and 16), so that all potential drivers are familiar with the requirements of cyclists, and more likely to become so themselves. I'm so offended by the attitude of some of these motorists that I'm not even going to complain about the new trial bike lanes on the Burrard bridge as I originally intended. Now, I'm just glad to live in a city where cyclists are treated as important enough that they can actually win political battles of this magnitude.