OT: Any Cyclists?

[William O'Higgins Witteman]

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 09:05:40AM -0400, Christopher Browne wrote:

>There's rather less incentive for cyclists to follow the law, and
>there is even ambiguity (e.g. - is "road=motorists+cyclists" a better
>fit than "sidewalk=pedestrians+cyclists"?)  To an extent, cyclists are
>"not perfectly welcome" on either sidewalk or road.  That's somewhat
>codified in law, for Segways, but "where should cyclists be?" is
>rather less clear.

Not so unclear - perhaps unknown.

A City bylaw allows cyclists with a tire size of 61cm or 24 inches or
less to ride on the sidewalk. The intent of this bylaw is to allow young
children to cycle on the sidewalk while they learn to ride. The bylaw is
based on wheel size because it is difficult for Police to enforce
age-based bylaws, as most children do not carry identification. This is
a municipal bylaw and rules vary in communities across Ontario. 
http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/safety/sidewalk/sidewalk.htm

A bicycle is classed as a "vehicle" under the Highway Traffic Act, and
is subject to the same laws as cars.
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90h08_e.htm#BK0

Bike lanes are municipally created and maintained, and governed by
municipal bylaws.

I take your point that many cyclists routinely disobey the law, and this
casts all cyclists in a poor light.  However, I once tracked driver
errors over a month and found, in 1 hour of commuting per weekday, 11
instances per week (average) of failure to stop, left turn not in safety
and failure to signal.  These errors might be overlooked by drivers, but
to cyclists and pedestrians they are potentially fatal (potential
fatality was my threshold criteria for counting an error).
-- 

yours,

William

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