Calling for a change
Traffic Safety Act needs to be improved, say bicyclists
It can be dangerous to ride a bicycle on the road in Kings County.
That is something four cyclists agreed on who’ve shared their thoughts on changes they’d like to see come through as part of the province’s new Traffic Safety Act.
The new act will replace the aged Motor Vehicles Act, which dates all the way back to 1914, and will begin its legislation process this fall. Until then, the government is accepting public input on what is needed to make roads safer for all users, and these four – Chris Banks, Bill Harvie, Doug Mcdougall and Ian Lemmon – have plenty of ideas of what could work.
“We have to figure out how to make it so everyone feels safe on roads. These routes are not just for cars – they’re for all traffic, of all kinds. And likewise, the rules need to be enforced for everyone, whether a car, bicycle, pedestrian, or whoever,” said Lemmon.
Make riding two-up legal
Riding two-by-two in a cycling group is illegal under the current act’s rules, yet presents the simplest method of increasing cyclists’ safety, said Mcdougall, who along with many groups uses the method anyway.
Banks also cited this method, known as two-up, as a safer way to cycle, though he acknowledged it may seem counterintuitive to those who don’t bike themselves.
“It’s one of the biggest things they’ve done in other countries. It’s counterintuitive, but it makes passing much safer – it forces the driver to actually go out and around them, while shortening the length of the group,” he said.
Mcdougall agreed, saying cars often use less distance to pass cyclists than they do a farm tractor.
“How does it make sense for a car to completely cross over that yellow line for a tractor, but sometimes give us less than a foot of space?” he asked, adding he will not move over for cars who begin getting aggressive when they cannot pass. “When it comes to cyclists, people can’t get past a cyclist fast enough. They don’t behave the same way behind a tractor – they wait until they can see.”
Enforcing road etiquette
Bill Harvie, co-owner of Valley Stove and Cycle, says feeling scared is a weekly event, even for a regular cyclist like himself.
He and Mcdougall listed occasions when spit, insults and objects like bottles have been thrown at them as they bike on the road. When they’ve approached police about the incidents with information like license plates and a car description, they were told police would follow up, but no enforcement followed. See CYCLIST, A3