‘Bike culture’ enjoys limited receptivity among Canadians

[Fishbone Jones]

Draw the line at bikes and anything with a motor that's on a road.

Age requirements are up for debate.



That's a solid question.

When I was a kid, we had to have a city bicycle license and renew it yearly. It had to be displayed on the bike at all times. To get that licence required all the tombstone info including the bike serial number, make and date. Bikes were returned without owners even knowing they were gone. Not so nowdays. We learned the rules of the road and how to ride properly, at school. We still have a safety village here for kids to learn to ride on roads. It has intersections and all of the street signs, lights, the works. The only thing missing is cars. Every school is afforded its use. We weren't allowed to bring a bike to school until grade 5 or 6 IIRC, to keep wee ones off the roads. They were restricted to sidewalks.

 

[mariomike]

If not making a full stop at that intersection was so dangerous, surely that TV crew would have a lot of footage of dangerous near misses and collisions , right ?

Regarding the Stop sign, this is actually what was said,

Looking at that clip, I didn't see a lot riders slowing down or looking both ways; most just seemed to blithely carry through the intersection at whatever speed they were travelling.

I'm a pedestrian, and a driver, in that area. The speed limit is 20 KPH.

Some Toronto cyclists say they were surprised and frustrated this week after being handed tickets in High Park for biking above the posted speed limit of 20 kilometres per hour.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1329790406624768005

I hope this was in jest. That is a ridiculous comparison.

Playing in the street. Roads were designed for transportation, not playgrounds. It's against the law, but kids still play one on one basketball and ball hockey. Nothing removed from children

Walking to school? How? Thousands of kids walk to school.

One more.

Crossing the street. First thing you were ever taught on your first walk leading to a road. Stop. Look both ways, twice, and proceed with caution. People have been crossing roads with zero inconvenience since before the Romans.

Roads belong to vehicles.

 

[kev994]

I hope this was in jest. That is a ridiculous comparison.

Playing in the street. Roads were designed for transportation, not playgrounds. It's against the law, but kids still play one on one basketball and ball hockey. Nothing removed from children

Walking to school? How? Thousands of kids walk to school.

One more.

Crossing the street. First thing you were ever taught on your first walk leading to a road. Stop. Look both ways, twice, and proceed with caution. People have been crossing roads with zero inconvenience since before the Romans.

Roads belong to vehicles.

I missed the part where the Roman’s were driving 5000 lb monstrosities over 50 km/h, what were they called? I thought they walked?

 

[SupersonicMax]

Roads belong to vehicles.

The (Wikipedia) definition of road disagree: “A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been surfaced or otherwise improved to allow travel by foot or some form of conveyance, including a motor vehicle, cart, bicycle, or horse.”

It is not exclusive to vehicles (such as cars and bicycles) and can also be used by pedestrians. The attitude that a road is exclusive to a type of user is a big part of the problem.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I missed the part where the Roman’s were driving 5000 lb monstrosities over 50 km/h, what were they called? I thought they walked?

Think Ben Hur. If you're too young for that, Chariots

 

[lenaitch]

I was on a walking/biking trail one day when one of those motorized electric scooters complete with a provincial license plate and a rider decided they should be allowed on there as well. I did not have a stick to jam the front spokes....

We have so many variations in our area; e-bikes, mopeds, e-scooters, mobility devices some of which are one step down from a BMW Smart Car, 'low speed vehicles'. Anywhere from two to four wheels. I've given up trying to figure where they can and can't travel. The common denominator seems to be that most have little clue how to operate them safely.

It's much easier to be aware of uncoming traffic at intersections on a bicycle.

If not making a full stop at that intersection was so dangerous, surely that TV crew would have a lot of footage of dangerous near misses and collisions , right ?

I get peripheral vision and all that, but I didn't see a lot riders even looking or slowing down. It's inside an urban park, so perhaps the cross street is not that busy. Not the point.

Playing in the street. Roads were designed for transportation, not playgrounds. It's against the law, but kids still play one on one basketball and ball hockey. Nothing removed from children

Maybe where you are.

 

[lenaitch]

It seems exercise timed laps might be part of the problem in Toronto's High Park. From the attached Toronto Star article:

He blames the increase in speeding cyclists in High Park on an app where users can post exercise times for fitness activities and share them with followers. High Park’s main loop is a common route for users and some have posted speeds of 49 km/h, well above the speed limit.​

​

“You can see bicycles racing, doing timed laps on these segments, hoping to get their personal best,” Mahoney said. “A bicycle is not a motor vehicle. However, it does need to obey all of the traffic laws.”​

‘Who is the park for?’: Crackdown on speeding cyclists raises tensions among High Park users

Toronto police have ramped up enforcement of traffic rules as the numbers of park users has increased.

www.thestar.com

 

[mariomike]

We have so many variations in our area; e-bikes, mopeds, e-scooters, mobility devices some of which are one step down from a BMW Smart Car, 'low speed vehicles'. Anywhere from two to four wheels. I've given up trying to figure where they can and can't travel.
The common denominator seems to be that most have little clue how to operate them safely.

Funny, cuz it's true.

It seems exercise timed laps might be part of the problem in Toronto's High Park. From the attached Toronto Star article:

He blames the increase in speeding cyclists in High Park on an app where users can post exercise times for fitness activities and share them with followers. High Park’s main loop is a common route for users and some have posted speeds of 49 km/h, well above the speed limit.​

​

“You can see bicycles racing, doing timed laps on these segments, hoping to get their personal best,” Mahoney said. “A bicycle is not a motor vehicle. However, it does need to obey all of the traffic laws.”​

Two-and-a-half times above the posted speed limit.

More on that in today's news,

Police are staking out cyclists with radar guns to catch them speeding in a Toronto park

A bike ride through Toronto's High Park just might land you a speeding ticket if you're unlucky, as officers have been posted up in the popular desti…

www.blogto.com

 

[ModlrMike]

If cyclists want to feel safe on the road, they need to act safe on the road. Speeding, blowing through stop signs, weaving like a demented pinball, in no way endears them to other road users.

 

[mariomike]

Saw a funny today from Scarborough.

https://www.reddit.com/r/torontobiking/comments/14enesv