CYCLIST AND OUR STREETS
Readers have their say
Re: Biking myths that simply refuse to die, June 28.
David Reevely cites some chilling accident statistics, but fails to reach some obvious conclusions.
Despite years of trying to make both our roads and cars safer, we continue to have accidents. Thanks to human error, I doubt we will ever eliminate vehicle collisions. We have turn signals and daytime running lights and myriad safety features and yet we continue to drive into each other.
Why, then, do we ever think that we will succeed at making the roads safe for cyclists?
My government doesn’t feel I am safe in my car unless I’m buckled in and surrounded by airbags. Do we really expect the cyclist to be safe enough with just a helmet?
It seems obvious that, with more cyclists on the road, there will be more vehicle/cyclist collisions. Bike lanes will not fully solve the problem because at some point there will be an intersection. Intersections are already risky for cars; they are potentially deadly for cyclists. The one-metre law is a fine idea, but I’m sure the car that collides with my car didn’t intend to do so (the driver would have probably preferred to stay a metre away from me). It’s that pesky human error again.
Perhaps this is a cost our society is willing to bear to reduce traffic congestion and help the environment, but we’re kidding ourselves if we think cyclists will ever be safe on our roads. Nancy Dahl, Ottawa