Quote:WATERLOO — The father of a 19-year-old teen who was killed after she was struck by a sport utility vehicle while riding her bike last week wants cyclists to know the rules of the road and to follow them.

Sam Yoo also wants helmets to be mandatory for every rider, not just children under 16.

"Riding bicycles requires all of you, physically and mentally," said Yoo, a serious cyclist who regularly rides 50-kilometre treks. He often rides to Elora three times a week.
....

(06-09-2016, 09:05 AM)MidTowner Wrote: “Total to date” was the wrong term for them to use (there isn’t even an ‘as at’ date on the sign). They just mean “Total.”

But very interesting! Three hundred users a day is nothing to sneeze at, and if we assume that some people only bike or walk to their jobs (or elsewhere) some days of the week, that’s a lot of people that trail is serving. It would be really neat to see daily and hourly breakdowns of the counts, to better see how many are commuters and other types of users there are.

(07-13-2016, 09:37 AM)MidTowner Wrote: From the Record: Father of teen killed cycling wants training for young riders

Quote:WATERLOO — The father of a 19-year-old teen who was killed after she was struck by a sport utility vehicle while riding her bike last week wants cyclists to know the rules of the road and to follow them.

Sam Yoo also wants helmets to be mandatory for every rider, not just children under 16.

"Riding bicycles requires all of you, physically and mentally," said Yoo, a serious cyclist who regularly rides 50-kilometre treks. He often rides to Elora three times a week.
....

This article follows another a few days ago that talked about similar calls for more training on bicycle safety in schools. I have to wonder, if the daughter of an avid cyclist is choosing to break the rules by riding on the sidewalk, what hope is there for kids whose parents don't cycle, but receive some instruction in school? Knowing the rules is important, but I would guess that the likely reason this young woman was riding on the sidewalk was not for ignorance of the rules, but rather the hostile nature of a lot of our roads.
Both articles this week also mentioned a 39-year-old rider struck by a transport truck when she was riding on Weber on a sidewalk. The implication is that training would have prevented that, too. I doubt it. I feel very strongly that people on bikes should have enough respect not to ride on the sidewalk, but I try to avoid Weber and find it to be a nightmare. If you need to use that street, I can understand why you might be tempted to ride on the sidewalk, and it seems that many people do. I would expect that the rider who was hit on Weber probably knows that bicycles belong on the street, but simply can't stomach riding in the kind of mixed traffic Weber has.
The answer is infrastructure, not more rules. If people are riding on the sidewalk on Weber, put a bike lane there. That's relatively straightforward compared to "more training in schools" and waiting a generation for people to hopefully ride safer. And a lot more likely to actually reduce injuries than mandating helmets.

(07-13-2016, 09:58 AM)panamaniac Wrote:

(07-13-2016, 09:37 AM)MidTowner Wrote: From the Record: Father of teen killed cycling wants training for young riders

This article follows another a few days ago that talked about similar calls for more training on bicycle safety in schools. I have to wonder, if the daughter of an avid cyclist is choosing to break the rules by riding on the sidewalk, what hope is there for kids whose parents don't cycle, but receive some instruction in school? Knowing the rules is important, but I would guess that the likely reason this young woman was riding on the sidewalk was not for ignorance of the rules, but rather the hostile nature of a lot of our roads.
Both articles this week also mentioned a 39-year-old rider struck by a transport truck when she was riding on Weber on a sidewalk. The implication is that training would have prevented that, too. I doubt it. I feel very strongly that people on bikes should have enough respect not to ride on the sidewalk, but I try to avoid Weber and find it to be a nightmare. If you need to use that street, I can understand why you might be tempted to ride on the sidewalk, and it seems that many people do. I would expect that the rider who was hit on Weber probably knows that bicycles belong on the street, but simply can't stomach riding in the kind of mixed traffic Weber has.
The answer is infrastructure, not more rules. If people are riding on the sidewalk on Weber, put a bike lane there. That's relatively straightforward compared to "more training in schools" and waiting a generation for people to hopefully ride safer. And a lot more likely to actually reduce injuries than mandating helmets.

If I understood the reports correctly, the individual was riding the wrong way down the street, not on the sidewalk.  The accident, however, occurred when she entered the cross street without stopping (again, if I read the Record report correctly).  There was a third auto/cyclist accident in K-W last week - the Record report did not imply the cyclist was at fault in that accident, as it did in the other two, but I've seen no report of any charges being laid.....

(07-13-2016, 09:37 AM)MidTowner Wrote: The answer is infrastructure, not more rules. If people are riding on the sidewalk on Weber, put a bike lane there. That's relatively straightforward compared to "more training in schools" and waiting a generation for people to hopefully ride safer. And a lot more likely to actually reduce injuries than mandating helmets.

(07-13-2016, 09:58 AM)panamaniac Wrote: If I understood the reports correctly, the individual was riding the wrong way down the street, not on the sidewalk.  The accident, however, occurred when she entered the cross street without stopping (again, if I read the Record report correctly).  There was a third auto/cyclist accident in K-W last week - the Record report did not imply the cyclist was at fault in that accident, as it did in the other two, but I've seen no report of any charges being laid.....

(06-09-2016, 09:05 AM)MidTowner Wrote: “Total to date” was the wrong term for them to use (there isn’t even an ‘as at’ date on the sign). They just mean “Total.”

But very interesting! Three hundred users a day is nothing to sneeze at, and if we assume that some people only bike or walk to their jobs (or elsewhere) some days of the week, that’s a lot of people that trail is serving. It would be really neat to see daily and hourly breakdowns of the counts, to better see how many are commuters and other types of users there are.

(07-13-2016, 10:08 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:

(07-13-2016, 09:58 AM)panamaniac Wrote: If I understood the reports correctly, the individual was riding the wrong way down the street, not on the sidewalk.  The accident, however, occurred when she entered the cross street without stopping (again, if I read the Record report correctly).  There was a third auto/cyclist accident in K-W last week - the Record report did not imply the cyclist was at fault in that accident, as it did in the other two, but I've seen no report of any charges being laid.....

I'm not sure the police would lay charges in a case like this, they're not required to, and charging a dead person seems...unnecessarily cruel.  It doesn't necessarily change the insurance company's view of fault either.

As for Midtowner's position, he's absolutely right, the most effective thing we can do to increase compliance with the laws i build safe bike infrastructure.  It's well studied.  And of course, this is entirely at odds with D'Amato's inflammatory column this morning, who suggests we stop building infrastructure and start licensing cyclists.  Insane.

That being said, I do feel that education is important, it is useful for cyclists (and future drivers) to know, for example, why cyclists would ride out from parked cars.  It doesn't even occur to some drivers that doors may open, and they take it as a personal insult.  I've even seen WRPS bike officers fail to ride away from parked cars.  So education does have a place I believe, but licensing does not.

(07-13-2016, 10:31 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Examples like Weber St sidewalk riding takes the old adage a bit further. We don't wait to see people swimming daily across a bridge to decide whether we should build one. We certainly should think of building one when we see people regularly drowning.

(07-13-2016, 10:38 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I certainly didn't mean to imply such a thing in my post - my reference to "charges" was in reference to the third accident, the details of which the Record did not provide.

(07-13-2016, 10:13 AM)Canard Wrote: Unfortunately, I have to disagree. I see (from behind the wheel, and behind my handlebars) cyclists all the time riding on the sidewalk when there's a bike lane right there. Especially when I'm on my bike, that infuriates me because it gives us a bad name.

It's also a bit like saying "people drive bad and roll through stop signs? Well just make them all yeilds!" Or something like that.

(07-13-2016, 10:13 AM)Canard Wrote:

(07-13-2016, 09:37 AM)MidTowner Wrote: The answer is infrastructure, not more rules. If people are riding on the sidewalk on Weber, put a bike lane there. That's relatively straightforward compared to "more training in schools" and waiting a generation for people to hopefully ride safer. And a lot more likely to actually reduce injuries than mandating helmets.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree. I see (from behind the wheel, and behind my handlebars) cyclists all the time riding on the sidewalk when there's a bike lane right there. Especially when I'm on my bike, that infuriates me because it gives us a bad name.

(07-13-2016, 11:28 AM)clasher Wrote: I won't fault anyone for riding on the sidewalk; Tiberiu David was killed riding in the bike lane on University Avenue. Bike lanes aren't really anything more than illusions of safety. Often times around here they're full of broken glass and other detritus. I don't really condone riding on the sidewalks and it's not something I do myself but I think a lot of people have well-justified fears about riding in bike lanes along the busy roads in this region. There's also the demographics of sidewalk cyclists to consider, many people have no other choice but to ride their bikes and they aren't the kind of people that have time to take a cycling safety class or ever had the opportunity to get online and use strava or something to figure out the best bike routes.

(07-13-2016, 12:04 PM)Canard Wrote: I would love to ride on the sidewalk. I'd feel safer. But I can't because it's against the law, so I don't do it. This is why I don't ride Victoria or Weber and will take side roads around them.