Toronto Cyclists Speak Out

how about asking cyclists stop biking on side walk , follow traffic signals, and get their own insurance

How about cars don't muscle pedestrians out of the way on red-on-rights, stop at cross walks and yellow flash crossings, as well as stop muscling cyclists off the roads when they do obey traffic laws?

You're so clever 'lol'.   How about asking motorists to cover the medical costs caused by tailpipe emissions, injuries and deaths?  You know anyone killed by a bicycle?  You know anyone who doesn't know someone killed  by/in a car?  How about the wasted real-estate in the city covered by ashphalt, and other blights to a livable city caused by personal motorised vehicles.

 How about you come and spout your nonsense at the corner of Spadina and Bloor, outside of your car, at 6:00 (Critical Mass).

I second that drivers obey traffic signals and STOP at crosswalks when the lights are flashing and i am in the middle of crossing the road...and stop attacking (verbally) cyclists. cars kill, not bikes.

As always with blinders-on Toronto politicians, don't confuse them by making them re-invent the wheel.  Shame and embarrass them with pictures and maps of what other cities do that works.  Toronto is not terrible but it can always learn from other cities, even (gasp) American ones.   Show how a cyclist can commute, park and shower for work in Chicago with photos of their bike station, or how you can actually bike to work downtown in Montreal using their bike map.  Show slides featuring the quality of the lane markings, bike traffic lights and surfaces on the New York bike greenway.  Keep it simple, graphical and put them in the frame of mind of "why can't WE do that?"

Actually, I'd like to see cyclists/drivers both adopt the suggestions in posts one and two.

I live on a street with bike lanes and witness first hand the downright dangerous interplay of drivers and cyclists daily, and I must concede that often cyclists put themselves in the line of fire by not taking obvious precautions.  As I have said here before, its about self-preservation.  Passing a car on the right who has indicated they are turning in that direction is madness - nearly saw some cyclist with earbuds in last evening get creamed at an intersection for this very manoever, and nearly caused a car collision when the driver was forced to swerve dangerously out of the way.  Likewise, I see cyclists flying by cabs which have pulled to the side to release their passengers - those riding in the rear of a cab do not have the benefit of mirrors to anticipate your arrival, its suicide not to slow and yeild to the car in front of you at this point.

For balance, drivers need to accept bikes as part of the road traffic and yield to them as appropriate - too often I see a cyclist with no option as their lane is cut off by an aggressive manouever by a driver.  Cyclists could do much to win this respect by being law abiding users of the road, which, in my experience, is the smallest minority.

I'm gonna add a dual exhaust to my pedalin' two-wheeler, along with some sick rims that have tire puncturing spike spinners on the sides. That'd be the shiz.