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This was in the weekend edition of one of Canada's National newspapers called "the National Post". It talks about the dangers of cycling in Toronto, but I thought fellow scooterist might enjoy this one as there are a lot of similar cage issues we share. Enjoy.



Why are cyclists so angry?
If you drive in this city, you've probably had a run-in with them. But maybe they have a point?

Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
Published: Saturday, May 06, 2006

Darren Stehr, who lives in Scarborough and is active in Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists, was riding west on the Danforth Tuesday, on his way to meet me in Kensington Market. He had passed Greenwood Avenue when his trip went bad.

"There was construction in the curb lane, so I was over," he says. "Some guy was yelling, 'Move over, get out of the way!' The next thing you know, he hit me with his side mirror. I kept riding. I told him, 'Pull over.' He zoomed off.''

It didn't end there. Cyclists can get angry.

''I chased after him, told him he was under arrest for dangerous driving, and called 911. Police got there. Then the guy yells, 'You told me you were a cop!' I said I didn't. The police said they can't charge him because there are no witnesses."

Those crazy cyclists. Banging on your hood. Taking up the whole lane so you can't pass them. Kicking your car door. Yelling at you. Giving you the finger. And as if that weren't enough, now they are making citizen's arrests.

And who can forget the January altercation in Kensington Market, when a cyclist threw a man's litter back in his car? He got out and stomped on her bicycle; photos of the fight went around the world on the Internet, prompting a global debate on cycling and driver rights.

Why are Toronto cyclists so freaking angry?

Maybe because they are all self-righteous freaks, frustrated they can't afford a car, rebelling against the establishment for any number of misguided reasons; in short, leftist, dope-smoking vegetarian militants with hairy armpits, hairy legs and troubled souls.

Or maybe cyclists are angry because they get no respect in this town.

"It often feels like we're on our own," says Tanya Quinn, sitting with Stehr and I at The Last Temptation in Kensington. Active in ARC, Quinn also has her own blog, crazybikerchick.blogspot.com."It feels like there are a lot of drivers out there who are hostile and feel like cyclists don't have the right to be on the road."

On Thursday, April 20, a little after 8 a.m., Dr. Hubert Van Tol, a father of three, left his modern home in a leafy, sidewalk-free enclave in Lawrence Park, and headed to his job as head of the molecular neurobiology and transgenic section at Toronto's Centre for

Addiction and Mental Health. Half an hour later, a dump truck filled with gravel heading south on

Avenue Road turned right on Cortleigh Boulevard, hit him and crushed his head.

Dr. Van Tol, 46, was no self-righteous freak. He was merely doing something that is commonplace in his native Holland: riding his bike to work.

That same evening, Bianca Gogel, 16, was cycling past the corner of Keele Street and Finch Avenue West. As she entered the intersection, she "came in contact with the trailer portion" of a tractor-trailer turning north, according to the police report. "The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene."

Last week, Stehr and other cyclists chained a "ghost bike" -- a bike painted entirely white -- to a pole near each bike accident site.

At Dr. Van Tol's home this week his wife, Monica, pleaded for privacy. "There are 15 people from his department in the backyard right now," she said. "It's only 11 days since he died. Please give us some time."

On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy rode his bicycle south on Lockwood Road in Brampton. As he entered the Queen Street intersection, a woman in a van heading north on Lockwood turned left on to Queen and hit him. He died that night at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.

So why are cyclists so angry? Mostly, it is out of fear.

"I don't even like getting a call on major arteries after 3:30 p.m.," says Glen Chomniak, 44, a South Riverdale father of one with degrees in urban planning and urban design who works as a bicycle courier. "People going back to Markham think that they have this absolutely biblical right to go as fast as they want because it's considered rush hour. They get really mad, they get aggressive. People are all honking and held up and they start using their cell phones and then they get angry because they have to get their kids to piano and soccer."

Chomniak and I are having an after-work beer on the terrace at Fionn MacCool's, on the Esplanade. It is rush hour, and around us churn angry rivers of metal as motorists attempt to leave downtown. Who would dare enter that flow on so vulnerable an apparatus as a frame of metal with a couple of thin wheels? The statistics are not reassuring. City figures show an average of 1,230 bike-car collisions in Toronto in each of the past five years. According to Sgt. Brian Bowman of Toronto Police traffic services, 1,100 cyclists were injured in bike-car crashes in Toronto last year.

"These are more than just a scrape," he says. "They're often broken bones." Bike accident totals, he says, are under-reported, and a fair number are hit and runs. He calls the numbers "alarming."

In about 50% of cases it's the driver's fault, in the other 50% it's the cyclist's fault, he says.

"If you look at it from the cyclist's perspective," he adds, "They have the right to be on the road. And the motorist is protected by all the metal around them."

Drivers on cell phones are a huge danger, he says. One even cut him off the other day. He was heading south on Strachan Avenue on his motorcycle, his lunch and Tim Hortons coffee carefully wedged in his saddlebag next to his rain coat. At the corner of King Street, a northbound car turning left cut him off. Sgt. Bowman pulled him over.

"Officer, it was a very important call," the driver protested.

"More important than having me on the hood of your car?" the sergeant asked.

Det.-Const. Stefan Nasner of Toronto Police, who is investigating Dr. Van Tol's death, plans to bring in the truck driver for questioning before meeting a Crown prosecutor to look at laying a charge.

Laying a charge can take time. A month ago, Det.-Const. Nasner went to Hamilton to charge Carlos Picanco, 49, a delivery-truck driver, with "making a turn not in safety" in the Oct. 31 death of Ryan Carriere. Carriere, 33, died under the wheels of a truck at the corner of Gladstone Avenue and Queen Street West on his way home to take his kids out for trick-or-treating. Picanco is due back in court on May 18

Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. What does the group have to show for its work? Not much. With the advent of the SUV, bikes have even less room on the road. The city put out an ambitious bike-lane plan in 2001. The Dundas Street East bike lane was a big breakthrough, but this year, despite a huge influx of new residents in all the new condos, the city will extend the bike lane network by just five blocks on Harbord Street (from Grace Street to Ossington Avenue) and put in a little piece on Logan Avenue.

"It's not as fast as many of us would like it to be," admits Daniel Egan, manager of the city's pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. "It's frustrating for staff and community activists. The biggest challenge is the lack of resources."

"Now we are so far behind implementing the bike plan that it's getting silly," says Wayne Scott, another ARC activist, who spent 25 years as a bicycle courier and managed to convince federal tax collectors to let couriers deduct $15 a day for their fuel -- food. Mayor David Miller, adds Stehr, isn't leading on the issue. "He'll get his face out there during bike week for a couple of photo ops, but that's about it."

I asked the ARC people whether there is any good news at all.

"There's a lot of people out on their bikes," Quinn says with a smile. "That's good." "The price of gas is going up," adds Stehr. "That's good."

National Post



© National Post 2006
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That story is right on. I've been driving and riding (bike and scooter) around Toronto for many years. I live in the east end of the old city (in the path of Scarborough commuters) and I can attest to the day of the week and the time of the day being a primary consideration for me whenever I want to go anywhere safely and sanely. There are certain times when public transit is the best choice - someone else is dealing with the insanity.

Friday afternoon rush hour during cottage season is the worst. People in their huge vehicles, yakking on cell phones, running reds and jumping greens, racing at every intersection just to get to their little slice of suburbia in time to load up and sit in hours of traffic to get to their "cottages". Heaven help anyone that gets in their way.

I've had people race past me over a solid yellow line in school zones at 4 PM when I'm already going 50 in a 40 kph zone - just not fast enough!!!

I used to get really pissed off when I was on my bicycle. I'd hit, kick and yell when appropriate, but I find I am more vulnerable on the scooter. On a bike I could get up on a sidewalk or down a narrow pedestrian alley to get away from crazy drivers. If worse came to worse, I could easily jump off the bike and run (never had to do that). With the scooter I force myself to take a deep breath and just shake my head.

Toronto is becoming more dangerous for anyone that isn't driving a van or truck (SUV) - pedestrians, cyclists, scooterists, small car drivers....and the police sure don't help by saying "you don't have a witness, so I can't charge him"...so why have a bloody law?! Who will ever have a witness for a close call?

Also - hit-and-runs are on the rise - joy of joys!

Well, that's my rant. I'm kind of surprised the Post came across as sympathetic to cyclists - that isn't generally their demographic.
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Good article!

Bikers do have a right to be on the road and that is also my personal view too... However, they do need to obey the law too. I don't know how many times a day/week I see kids as well as grown adults running stop signs and stop lights. I also don't know how many times I have come close to hitting one of them because they are also doing this while riding in the wrong direction. Being a scooterist and having been a bike rider in the past, I do my best to try too keep an eye out for my fellow rider, but my fellow rider also needs to follow the same rules as the rest....

A little extra effort by all of us can save a life....
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Careless/stupid/inconsiderate riders occupy all types of vehicles. Last week, I had the opportunity to experience this first hand. On a busy road (by London, Ontario standards) with 2 lanes travelling in one direction, and 2 in the other, I was sitting in the curb lane next to a bicyclist (who was sharing my lane on my right side) waiting for the lights to change. When the traffic signal turned green, and as 4 lanes of traffic began to move, the bicycle bolted out, and turned left - across 4 lanes of traffic - causing everyone to slam on their brakes! I had watched him start to pedal, so I was prepared, but the rest were caught off guard. It is remarkable that he wasn't struck (with no helmet either), and that no one was rear-ended.

In the safe driving courses, they teach you to try and anticipate what other drivers/riders may do. I have added "may bolt across the intersection against 4 lanes of moving traffice" to my list of considerations!
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I've been riding bike in the NYC for nearly 20 yrs, and can say that traffic has gotten worst. I didn't always follow the rule, but you learn very quickly... that neither motorist. They park in bike paths, don't look were they are going and more. Not saying all biker are right, just most of the time, and cabs suck just as much wether your on a scoot or bike.

That said, it seem like Ontario heading in a downward spiral for 2 wheel vehicles. That too bad.

x

I'd tell you this though, this guy would be f'k in NYC...the other msgrs would jump in and kick his butt. Not that I condone this, but these things really piss me off.


Here is an image from the story:
External inline image provided by member with no explanatory text

for the rest check out http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770
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Wow xman,

That is an insane situation. Ignorance and arrogance behove violence it would seem.

I still fear two things more than the SUV's, black BMW's (my wife and I each have nearly been wiped out by them as pedestrians and on the road in cars and on the scooter); and of course Toronto taxis.
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Splitmind wrote:
Wow xman,

That is an insane situation. Ignorance and arrogance behove violence it would seem.

I still fear two things more than the SUV's, black BMW's (my wife and I each have nearly been wiped out by them as pedestrians and on the road in cars and on the scooter); and of course Toronto taxis.
Now, don't let me only give you one side of biking/ scoot'n in NYC. I love Riding in the the city!...it just take a lot of concentrated to avoid all the obstacles. The best is cruising around on a nice day running errands and not rushing. Also If I scare someone or cut some one off, and it's my fault I will apologizes for my mistake.

As for cab, yeah I wish it would be like they have it in Germany, Taxi driver are required to study and a take a long hard test before they are allowed to driver. Over there they are respected citizen in society and on the road. If I completely off with this state...please correct me...my Deutschland homies

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This stuff is far too common. I'm honked at-in the "hey, get out of my way" kinda way, not the "hey, howya doin?" kinda way-at least once a month by some jackoff in a car while I'm on my bicycle. Mind you, I'm not keying anyones car, I'm just travelling lawfully on the side of the road designated by law or using the left turn lane at intersections.

For whatever reason, some drivers just think bicycles are their ultimate foes on the road, or that we don't belong there at all. I remember seeing PSAs as a kind in the early 70s about proper bike riding in traffic and what not. The idea-no, the REALITY-that bikes are also vehicles that have every right to be on the roads and be treated as such seems to be far down the list of things government feels like spending our tax dollars on education-wise.

Ironically, my training as a cyclist on the road has had a positive effect so far for me on my Vespa. I'm always on the defensive, I NEVER put my trust in the other driver, and my skin is extra thick to center-of-the-universe @$$holes in their cars.

First thing you gotta learn as a cyclist or a scootereist, IMHO: when it comes to you on two wheels and them on four, you stand a greater chance of losing a confrontation-no matter who's at fault.

Pedal/scoot away and live to ride another day. Then go home and have a beer or iced tea.
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Right on, Robotribe. Biking has totally help me.

x
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robotribe wrote:
Ironically, my training as a cyclist on the road has had a positive effect so far for me on my Vespa. I'm always on the defensive,
Amen, I'm a pretty heavy city/suburban street bicycler and I found the basic road skills for the scooter are a mix of the bike and a car. The scan differences are larger on the scooter vs the bike and the margin of error smaller but even if I'm riding my bike over in the parking lane I consider myself traffic and know about every car passing me and every divit in the road.

Thing is, as we've discussed here in the past what a "better world this would be" if we had more 2 wheelers, I'm not so convinced. If we replaced half the SUVs on today's steets with crotch rockets (or other MCs) I'd probably be twice as scared for my life as I am now.
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It's not like it's not possible to create a good situation for bikers. I was in Holland last weekend; Their roads are designed to mak eit very easy for bicycles. Maybe in the bigger cities with lots of traffic, it's less ideal but the Dutch are bicycle riders for sure.
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http://www.governing.com/articles/10trans.htm

This is an intersting and incisive article on bike safety: The author
suggests that we focus here on "helmets" as a solution to bike safety...
and this kind of policy seriously overlooks the truth. The danger to
cyclists comes from other vehicles. -- hence the burden for cycling
safety falls on all other drivers.

Excerpt:

In Holland and most Scandinavian countries, if a driver hits a cyclist, the
driver is at fault. Period. The European Union is now working to make this
a standard policy in its member countries.

The result is a different attitude. "The cars look out for the bicycles, the
bicyclists look out for the cars and everyone looks out for the
pedestrians" is how one Amsterdam mother described it to me.


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I lived in Copenhagen for three years, and found it to be an ideal place to commute by bicycle. My wife (Danish) has never owned a car. The public transit has high frequency through the day and is used by people of all economic levels. Dedicated raised bike lanes are set up between the road and the side walk on most major routes making it zero stress to ride downtown from the burbs. Other bikes are a bigger threat than cars, but it is really cool sharing the road with as many bikes as car in the rush hour. Only Calgary and Vancouver (in Canada) come close to a decent situation for cyclists but it still falls far short of what Denmark has. Cycling in Toronto is an extreme sport, and is not a suitable means of transportation like in Scandanavia.

Also interesting is that you never see weekend warriors in bike pants, hemlets, and other overkill stuff when biking in Denmark. Over there a bike is transportation, not a fashion statement. The bikes are simple (3-5 gears), and conventional. (1 mountain or race bike for every 20 street bicycles.) There are thousands of places to lock a bike available and most bikes have rear locks built onto the frame making it possible to lock the bike to itself without need of lugging a chain. Compare that to Canada with some dude in a $2000 full suspension mountain bike, $80 lock, bike pants, $200 helmet, special clip on shoes, etc. etc., and its no wonder nobody bothers to use the bike to go down to the pub or pick up a few groceries. They've made biking so bloody complicated and expensive in perception that most adults forgot how much fun taking a simple bike around the neighbourhood can be.

Our next bikes will likely cost under $400 and meant to be riden, locked in public without fear, and used without dressing up like Lance Armstrong to go to the pub or park.
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lomunchi wrote:
Thing is, as we've discussed here in the past what a "better world this would be" if we had more 2 wheelers, I'm not so convinced. If we replaced half the SUVs on today's steets with crotch rockets (or other MCs) I'd probably be twice as scared for my life as I am now.
Maybe, but I do find that 2 wheelers are aware of one another, and understand the challenges we all face. I'm thinking I'd be less wary about being rear-ended at a stop light, for example. And just think-- with half as many SUVs, we could decrease the the global warming threat status to ORANGE!
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The funny this is I actually feel safe sometime among a lot of bikes. Here in NYC we have the mass ride (done for bike awareness) and we just had this years 5 boro bike tour about 42 mile I think. And it's a beautiful thing I tell ya. Make you wish there were bike traffic jam instead of automobile jams. And yup, you will have faster, slow and reckless riders...but you get the same thing walking down a busy street (here anyway)...

As far as I remember there really haven't too many serious accidents when on these big rides. I wish NYC was more like some Euro country/cites, when it come to bikes. Oh well one day...

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Splitmind wrote:
Our next bikes will likely cost under $400 and meant to be riden, locked in public without fear, and used without dressing up like Lance Armstrong to go to the pub or park.
Now that's what I call living.

When I was in Paris last winter, I also observed that certain larger boulevards had designated bicycles lanes AND buses in the center of the road to be shared with the buses! Anyway, seems to me at least, that if the buses know that bicycles are allowed in those lanes and that they are to SHARE that space, than as a long as all parties are aware and respectful of that designated law fewer accidents happen.

That said, I actually witnessed a bicycle accident in Paris when I was there last. A young lady commuting on her bike (no helmet!) was struck or ran into a car at low speeds. She was visibly shaken, but from what we saw, not "that" injured, except for maybe her hand or fingers which looked pretty bad.

The strange thing, at least to us visiting American witnesses, was that the driver of the car helped her into his car after, and I assume, than took her to the hospital. Very cool.
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pdxvespa wrote:
lomunchi wrote:
Thing is, as we've discussed here in the past what a "better world this would be" if we had more 2 wheelers, I'm not so convinced. If we replaced half the SUVs on today's steets with crotch rockets (or other MCs) I'd probably be twice as scared for my life as I am now.
Maybe, but I do find that 2 wheelers are aware of one another, and understand the challenges we all face. I'm thinking I'd be less wary about being rear-ended at a stop light, for example. And just think-- with half as many SUVs, we could decrease the the global warming threat status to ORANGE!
Deborah, that's true, I've never been anxious about being hit by a biker.... plus, I could never argue with your avatar... I'm pretty close to proposing to her!
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