Best of luck getting cyclists to follow rules
Re: Rules of the road must apply to cyclists, Column, June 14
Anyone who has been driving in the Lower Mainland for more than a week knows that cyclists have been riding roughshod over the road rules since the invention of the bicycle.
To survive on the streets of Metro Vancouver, you need to understand that there are three sets of unique rules: one for the drivers who refuse to acknowledge anyone else on the road; one for the cyclists who think the rules are for everyone except themselves; and one for the pedestrians who blithely ignore traffic signals while they shuffle across the street staring at the ground. REILLY MONTGOMERY Steveston
A timely and well- written article. My kudos to Stephen Hume. You have expressed concerns that I have often thought of and I am sure there are many others, too.
I am a cyclist and big- time pedestrian. On the east side of the Cambie street bridge ( a shared sidewalk), there are no dividing lines between bikes and pedestrians. Sad to say, but many cyclists seem to think it is the Tour de France. I have seen too many close calls on this bridge. A walk that should be enjoyable is more of a staredown and a constant checking for inattentive cyclists.
Cyclists who continue to ride on “non- shared” sidewalks, please do not expect us to jump out of your way; you are not supposed to be there; it is a city bylaw. VALERIE I. I. FORTIN Burnaby
It has been said and it must be said again. If cyclists are using vehicular roads, their cycles should be licensed and insured as all other vehicles on the roads must be. OLGA KUDYBA North Vancouver
Cyclists often come into conflict with pedestrians as well as drivers. TransLink shares part of the blame. As a frequent, longtime transit user, I’ve never, ever seen SkyTrain attendants or Transit police do anything about people riding bikes ( and skateboards) inside SkyTrain stations — even on SkyTrain platforms. This must represent a tacit TransLink policy.
That being the case, TransLink should redesign SkyTrain platforms with separate lanes to protect cyclists and skateboarders from pedestrians. As it stands now, bikers and boarders have no choice but to bash into inconsiderate pedestrians who refuse to get out of their way by jumping onto the tracks. GREG KLEIN Vancouver
Re: Cyclists need reminder: seawall is not a raceway, Letters, June 8
I write regarding the letter in which a cyclist “zipped” past a pedestrian and her grandchild, missing them “by a foot,” on the south False Creek seawall. My wife and I have not been so lucky, as we have both been knocked down ( from behind and at separate times) on that walk by cyclists who were simply not looking where they were going, and going too fast to stop in time.
There have been many other similar incidents.
A letter of complaint to the Vancouver park board produced no response. A letter to the city engineering department resulted in a few more signs posted intended to control cyclists. As the cyclists were already ignoring existing signs, additional signage has had no apparent effect.
Do we have to wait until someone is seriously injured or even killed before some effective measures are put in place to separate the two types of traffic? One solution is to ban bicycle traffic on the seawall, at least on weekends, when traffic is at its peak. Cyclists could be diverted to Charleston and Lameys Mill Roads. They would also be less likely to exceed the 50 km/ h speed limit on these roads or hit pedestrians on the sidewalks. GLENN M. HARDIE Vancouver
Dullness of commuting drives us to distraction
Let’s not focus on cellphones as the distraction problem in cars. I’m not aware of any statistics that say car accidents are more frequent since cellphones came about.
Driving is inherently boring and our multi- tasking society looks for anything to break that monotony and make the trip less boring.
Before cellphones, we were writing notes or were playing with the radio or CDs. If we are successful in getting more than one person per vehicle, we will talk, debate and generally take our attention away from the road.
Commuting is wasted, nonproductive time. Nearly all of us want to be more productive. Take cellphones away and we’ll still find something to do in the car other than concentrate on driving. BOB GARNETT Richmond
B. C. faces divide on resource economy
Re: Robertson’s ‘ Happy Planet’ aspirations ignore reality, Column, June 11
Mayor Gregor Robertson wants to prevent the expansion of coal in the Vancouver port; he wants to replace lost jobs by attracting high- tech industries to Vancouver.
Many people count on jobs in the trades, forestry, construction, mining and many service and public sector industries. All these jobs rely on wealth production from our resource industries.
To create high paying jobs, Mayor Robertson should reach out to those who have already done that and are in a position to increase jobs through an increase in the export of B. C.’ s resource products. GORDON WESTRAND Maple Ridge
Re: Christy Clark unveils new cabinet, June 8
The creation of a new ministry of natural gas development is wrong for the province.
When many economies are coming to grips with the alarming surplus of CO2 in the atmosphere and pursuing alternate energy strategies, B. C. is gunning for drastic extractive technologies to exploit fossil fuels.
The easy natural gas is gone, so the provincial government has thrown all its eggs into the fracking basket; excessive use of water resources, pollution of the surrounding landscape and wildlife, and more pipelines through pristine wilderness will result.
The promised returns to B. C. are overrated and the toll on ecosystems at a time of huge wildlife losses is overwhelming.
To service the LNG plants not even the damming of the Peace River ( at taxpayer expense) will provide the obscene amount of power required to turn the gas into a liquid form for shipment to Asia. And after all this investment, there are no guarantees of a market there.
What we really need is a minister of alternate energy development and get on with investing in technologies that will create far more long- term jobs. GAYLE NEILSON Gibsons
I protest and decry the plans for greatly increased coal shipments from the Surrey Fraser River Docks and the Deltaport site.
This proposal will have a direct and negative effect on the environment of the Fraser River and estuary, adjacent areas and all along the route of shipping, and the lives and health of people who live there.
It is not possible to fully protect our beautiful Fraser River and its inhabitants from harmful run- off and pollution caused by the increased shipment of coal on its banks.
I have carefully read the mitigation proposals, and they cannot possibly be effective or sufficient. It is wishful thinking.
Additionally, it is a filthy fuel which adds to global warming. This huge project could have a terrible impact on our communities and our world. This project should be abandoned. We can do better. WENDY WULFF Surrey
Initiative needed in prescription drug boom
Re: Increase in antipsychotic drug prescriptions for kids ‘ great concern,’ June 10
Sharon Kirkey’s article on the increase of anti- psychotic drug prescriptions for kids shows that B. C. should not reduce support for the UBC Therapeutics Initiative.
How could Christy Clark simultaneously be critical of the Ottawa Conservatives for shuttering the Kits coast guard station to save $ 700,000 a year, which she argued is a lifesaver to the local boating community, while at the same time withdrawing about the same annual amount from what is, and should remain, an integral part of B. C. s medical system?
To put it bluntly, despite the miracles associated with modern pharmaceuticals, they also have a serious downside.
For the sake of the health and safety of our citizens, old and young, the TI should be staunchly supported, and probably enhanced. STAN HILL Richmond
Centralized power in PMO adds to democratic deficit
Re: Rathgeber did what people of principle do, Column, June 8 and MP’s stand is a principled one that should give Tories pause, June 8
The autocratic centralization of both executive and legislative powers in the Prime Minister’s Office ( PMO) has effectively hollowed Parliament’s role, with the dictates of caucus solidarity suffocating the regional voices of individual MPs by rigid party discipline, demanding sheeplike obedience.
To correct Canada’s “democracy deficit,” separation of the executive branch ( PMO) and the legislative branch ( Parliament) would achieve a functional system of much- needed political checks and balances.
But that may be just a tad too “republican” for this democratically challenged “kingdom” of ours. E. W. BOPP Tsawwassen