Toronto Police to Crack Down on Cycle-Unfriendly Drivers

If I might extend an appeal to my fellow cyclists, let's use this as an opportunity to show drivers that we observe the rules of the road, and not be darting up onto sidewalks and through red lights like crazy people. :)

Wow, about time! Should be year round though, yeah!

Awesome news, though I have no idea how they'll stop people from opening their doors on to cyclists. I have some shiny new paint on my handlebars from some dufus who opened his door on to me just today. Hopefully he's got some black paint on his car as a reminder to look out next time.

I think a lot of times the "jerk" drivers don't really mean to endanger or inconvenience anyone, but they simply don't have a clue what it's like to be a cyclist. In Vancouver, so many drivers are also cyclists themselves so cyclists get so much more respect. So many times I've had cars stop and let me cross on my bike even though I had the stop sign. Many of the drivers in TO are 905ers who see very few cyclists in their own area. As nice as it would be if everyone just voluntarily went to read about cyclist safety, it's just not going to happen. The government needs to push, hopefully province-wide, bike-car coexistence safety knowledge to the public. I hope they're doing that already.

Toronto is hell for cycling,everyday brings a new bad driving situation. the best place to cycle that ive been to aside from Amsterdam is china, not all parts but in some of the most populous major cities in china, possess bike lanes wide enough to drive a car down with the added safety bonus of a curb separation between the bike lanes and the car lanes with openings at stop lites and crosswalks,that way drivers are not going to enter your lane at all.if Toronto is serious about cycling and doing something good for the future generations and get people out of their fat machines they need to protect the ones doing good. some driver fines are only going to make the aggressive drivers more rabid.

---However, most collisions do happen at intersections, and placing cyclists to the right of right-turning traffic is not at all a good idea. This might be fine for cycling slowly, but if we really want to encourage cycling for transportation, I think we should make it possible to ride at decent speeds, otherwise cycling becomes impractical as a mode of transportation except for very short distances.

if you look at the picture for this article,a curb would not let these people from coming into the bike lane. at intersections this can be a problem but all these steps,lanes, curbs make drivers a bit more aware of cyclists out there. ive used these lanes in china and they work great,i ride under the dufferin bridge every morning and drivers are swerving into me looking ahead trying to see if they can get ahead and generally being cut off.this will not change because we are in the perceived less superior vehicle,radical steps need to be taken if it is to be encouraged as a form of transportation,i can see why people take cars,your safe from other drivers.

> if you look at the picture for this article,a curb would
> not let these people from coming into the bike lane.

You must not have seen a YouTube video of a Chinese driver driving over that curb and getting into bikelane to bypass congestion. He got into a heated argument with a cyclist who refused to yield (threw her bike on the ground at some point). The attitudes there are getting worse: apparently a car means that you're rich and can do anything you want on the road.

> at
> intersections this can be a problem but all these
> steps,lanes, curbs make drivers a bit more aware of
> cyclists out there.

I understand that. However, I heard that in China oftentimes right-turners will be pretty aggressive because once they let one biker go, the whole stream will follow. So as a cyclist you basically have to slow down to a crawl at every intersection, even if you have a green light. Also you can't make left turns very easily, can't bypass obstacles in that lane... I agree it's all wonderful for low-speed cycling, but can be frustrating for higher-speed cyclists. It might also create a false sense of security (I know Toronto bike paths do, I've seen instances of that...) Anyway, the success of cycling is way more than just bike lanes. It's a whole driving/riding culture (that seems to be getting worse for cyclists).

I definitely agree that something should be done to make cycling safer in the city. I just don't think separated curb lanes are the answer. At least not in the core urban area with a lot of intersections. They actually tried them in New York a while back and got rid of them because the cyclists weren't using them.

Warning - during past blitzes, the cops have sat on bike trails and nabbed cyclists for not coming to a full stop, ie. one foot must be on the ground. A favourite spot is Russell Hill Road south of St. Clair. The intersection is only 3-way and many cyclists whiz right through it. So be warned - these blitzes are more about generating tickets from unwary cyclists than changing driver behaviour.

Indeed it is really only a relatively small portion of motorists who act like jerks. The trouble is that one does not remember the vast majority who don't. It is likely also true that a greater portion of cyclists fail to respect the rules of the road than of motorists. I would say that the trouble is greater with motorists simply because they are operating larger and more dangerous vehicles. The truth is, while I am often witness to illegal and dangerous cycling, I rarely encounter cyclists acting in such a manner as to place other people's lives in grave danger. Nevertheless, we cyclists should strive to set a good example by obeying the law.

I welcome this police blitz, but one week of real enforcement is woefully inadequate. The police need to commit to a long-term enforcement strategy if any real improvement is to be made.