Bike Safe BC

[Mtn Biker]

I don't get it. Too many people flaunt the rules when it comes to Cycling on ours roads.
So many people ride bikes on the wrong side of the road, without lights, or high visibility clothing. I also see lots of kids doing the same thing?? This is extremely dangerous as it makes driving difficult and fraught with more hazards than one would expect from the rules of the road. It also increases the chances of collisions for the cyclist.

Some other observations of poor road safety on bikes.

Riding on Sidewalks
Riding over crosswalks
No Helmets
No Reflectors

As a cyclist and a driver of BC's roads I often wonder; Is it that there is no enforcement of the rules of the road, or is it lack of education at school age or poor coaching from parents?

http://www.bikesense.bc.ca/ch4.htm

Thanks man and give it a rest. It’s not like cyclist don’t get enough grief on this site already, here’s another crybaby post painting all cyclist with the same brush by someone claiming to be one themselves. The story is old, it’s as stupid as the people you are writing about, and it gets tiring defending those who obey. You do see there are just as many or more, bad drivers and dumb pedestrians, as there are bad riders. These people are the same lazy, I’ll do as I please, me first people you see in many avenues of life, they just use a bike to get around. But thanks just the same, now I get to waste more time bashing heads with the paint’em all the same, couldn’t get my leg over a bike seat if I tried, but let’s b about them anyways threads. Well done.

Dude, you know what? You have no idea about my background as a cyclist or as a driver or a motorcyclist. I have been cycling since I was little and now mostly go up and down mountains on a Full Suss Bike. When I'm not hairing down mountains enjoying myself I get home via the road, but I wouldn't ride towards the oncoming traffic (nuts) and I would certainly make myself visible at night. Lights (Er!) to which a lot of cyclist including kids don't.
You strike me as one of the forum guys that just likes to stir things up but have very little to say on the matter as you have resigned yourself to "Thats the way it is" mentality.

"If you always do what you always did. You will always get what you always got"

Surely implementing change and education into road safety is a good thing and usually this starts with a little discussion. (Hense my post)
I myself am looking into the Cycling Course for the kids at my local school. If that helps kids and my kids ride with awareness and make themselves seen and makes parents aware also, its worth it.
For me, its not about laying blame for who is wrong and who is good and who is bad. Its about changing people attitudes to cyclists that DO obey the rules and come down hard on those that take the P**s out of the Law.

Well dude I don't care what your experience is, but thanks for your resume, you must be proud. What I said was the ones who break the rules would be doing so anyways, no matter what you do to try to educate them. As for riding on a sidewalk, you bet I will is it's the safest place. Like on Pandosy for example. I've never touched or impeded any pedestrian ever. You can't regulate and educate the stupid out of people . . . they just don't get it sometimes. Why don't you read the stupid paint everyone who rides a bike with the same brush comments your thread generates. That’s what gets me going and your comments just fuel the fire. The fact that more people should ride, but don’t because fear for their lives, is what should be talked about. Instead we get a bunch of non-riding hypocrites suggesting I need to change what I do. I was simply saying thanks a lot for bringing out another holy crusading self-righteous blast every cyclist on the road useless threads. When you understand you are talking about a class of people who will never obey a law, whether on a bike or not, with no respect for anyone else on the road, and keep the comments targeted at the perpetrators instead of cyclist in general, I’ll stand down.

[Loed]

I see a whole bunch of nested, out of context posts here, great job!
Nothing nested or out of context just complete statements you made unless you are going to now deny making them?

You've only proven my point that I never said "helmets don't save lives".
I never said you stated that. If you actually bothered to read you would see I said:
"You've told us helmets don't prevent injury even though there are multiple studies to actually prove otherwise.
I said "helmets don't matter". Big difference there.
Actually there is no difference because in both the cases of saving lives and preventing injury helmets most certainly do matter, unless as previously requested you can prove otherwise which we all know you can't

It is more safe,
Safe for who? Certainly not for the pedestrians which the sidewalks are specifically dedicated for.
I'm sorry that you don't ride a bike and cannot grasp the situation from a realistic perspective, instead choosing the text book approach of "well it works in the lab, it should work in application as well!"
How do you know if I ride a bike or not? To back my case I'm using the actual legal and fact based perspective while you are using nothing more than an "it makes me feel safer" perspective.
Guess what, no, it doesn't.
Prove it with facts please as laws are based on facts and statistics while all you are basing your assumptions on is a warm fuzzy feeling you get while breaking the law. Should "it makes me feel safer" now be the standard defense for any number of illegal activities?

I enjoy riding my bike and being alive, that you are correct about.
Yet you state "I don't care about saving lives, the less people we have around(even if that includes myself) the better. Hardly seems the words of someone who is supposedly so worried about their personal safety and concerned with self preservation does it?

The bottom line is that riding bicycles on a sidewalk (one of the OP's origional complaints) is unsafe for pedestrians and therefore illegal. You can repeat the "but it makes me feel safe" line all you want but your actions are still illegal. You obviously can not produce a single fact to back up your claim that you actually are safer just that you "feel" safer. I'm sure many of us would "feel safer" if we were allowed to carry guns or tazers when oout on the streets at night but just like you riding your bike on a sidewalk these actions are illegal and no matter how much you whine it will remain illegal.

I'm glad you understand what the word "nested" means. Hahah Pro-tip, yes they are nested, from there you twist their context. Bravo.

Riding on the sidewalk is perfectly safe with pedestrians involved in lower volume areas when you use your simple (un)common sense.

A majority of bike laws are based around situations that happen in other towns, or changes that have worked in other towns. The rules don't work in many cases from there, but instead of working on a per case basis(expensive), cities and townships just use blanket rules to make things easier. That's why a lot of them end up being bent by the general public out of necessity sometimes.

I can tell you don't ride a bike because of your attitude here and misunderstandings of the situation in general.

Personal safety trumps a few things in the legal area. Look at the HOV lane for example, a ticket can be disputed by a simple "felt unsafe making a turn into the middle lane, just to turn(and maybe have to hold up traffic since no-one lets anyone in) back into the HOV lane to make a right turn".

They aren't the words of anything you're making them out to be. You don't know me so try not to twist my words around to your benefit there bud.

If you want to get a gun to feel safer, you can get permits for that you know, it's not in the realm of impossibility.

The FACT is that riding on the sidewalk in a calmed(slower, steadier and considerate of others) manner is safer for the bikers, and no less safe for pedestrians. Much more safe than riding on the shoulder of a roadway with cars doing 70+ all day long.

If you can't see how that works, then you're a lost cause in this discussion. I'm not denying the legality of anything.

[DerKaiser]

I always ride my bike on the sidewalk, when there is one. I don't want to get killed riding on the road. Of course I get off my bike and walk it across the road at intersections, pedestrian crosswalks, etc.. Also, when I pass a pedestrian, I either get off my bicycle or off the sidewalk. When the sidewalk is wide enough to pass, I slow down and make myself known to the pedestrians if I'm coming up from behind. It's not my fault the city can't invest in proper cyclists/pedestrian multi-use sidewalk (paths, corridors, etc.). I've tried riding on the roads and sharing them with motor vehicles, but it is clearly suicide. So I'm going to stay on sidewalks, until people drop their 'i don't care about anyone and anything, but me' attitude and start driving properly.

[econovan64]

Talk about suicide. Today a guy riding a bike on the new 4 lane section of Clement swerved out from the side and in front of a car approaching from behind. The guy just missed taking him down by inches. Thats the third or fourth bike I've seen on that portion of Clement where there is no bike lane in a week. There is however a 1.7 million dollar bike/pedestrian pathway right beside the road. Doh!
Four lane roads are not a safe place for bikes.

[Loed]

I've figured out the solution to all of our problems guys!

http://youtu.be/lnL4fjMzsSU

Everyone loves bells!

[Fancy]

Love bells. And I don't have a problem with multi-use sidewalks and bikes coming up behind me using their bells. If there's room I move over, if not I know a bike is about to pass me. Other places use this method so I don't see why people here can't.

[Loed]

Look how well they are trained in Japan! Hilarious, but eye opening at the same time. A simple courtesy like the ring of a bell can be all it takes to split the masses.

[econovan64]

The normal sidewalks are not wide enough to accommodate bike traffic without pedestrians being struck. The Greenway and the Clement trail are made for that purpose.

The vehicle vs bike vs pedestrian issue is a big problem in most N American cities and getting worse as the economy and fuel prices push more people to find cheap alternatives to driving.

Its not going to get better any time soon.

Basically we have a lot of people with a huge sense of entitlement driving vehicles and riding bikes and flaunting the basic rules of the roads, not to mention common courtesy.

[Loed]

The normal sidewalks are not wide enough to accommodate bike traffic without pedestrians being struck.

This is true only in the case where cyclists AND pedestrians are both blind, ignorant and to stupid to move and accommodate each other.

I have never hit a pedestrian, but I have the common sense to slow down and hop onto the road, or walk past them instead of running into them.

[econovan64]

The normal sidewalks are not wide enough to accommodate bike traffic without pedestrians being struck.

This is true only in the case where cyclists AND pedestrians are both blind, ignorant and to stupid to move and accommodate each other.

I have never hit a pedestrian, but I have the common sense to slow down and hop onto the road, or walk past them instead of running into them.

I'm glad someone riding a bike shows some courtesy. I have been hit and brushed by bikes several times on the sidewalk on Bernard when I lived over there and used to take nightly walks in the area. My friend was hit quite hard in the elbow by a cyclist and she suffered months of pain and loss of use of the arm. It was quite a serious injury, not funny at all. We stopped walking along that stretch as there was always idiots riding fast on the sidewalk (700-800 block)They come from behind, fast and silent. Yeah those as well

[Loed]

I'll be the first to admit that Bernard is NOT an area for cyclists to be on the sidewalk. It's FAR too small! Expansion of said sidewalk for bikes would be great!

That said, riding down bernard is fairly okay, the majority of vehicles do the speed limit and sometimes under, it's still sketchy and you really have little place to go if you need to move out of the way fast. Vehicles lining both sides of the street make it dangerous for bikers.

[econovan64]

I don't know what the answer is and its really too bad as the city has spent a lot on bike lanes and is continuing to do so yet so many flaunt the common sense rules and ride on sidewalks even when there is a bike lane, don't wear helmets and cut out in traffic as if they were immune to injury etc.

I actually do appreciate the cyclists who are doing it right and often smile or wave when they come along in a cheerful way. I would to bike myself but consider it too dangerous around Kelowna, I gave up my motorcycle for the same reason, too dangerous in this town.

These people that I see riding on streets like Harvey and Clement where there is no bike lane and challenging motorists to hit them is just plain stupid. You have to be out of your mind to be doing this and maybe some of them are. And of course none of these ones ever have a helmet on. And you never know when they are going to do something stupid like cut across the street or stand out in front of everybody at the red light and then block all traffic when the light changes. Or one of my favorites, ride across against the red in the crosswalk, then get back on the street.

A lot of cities are having this problem these days, trying to promote cycling but having a lot of problems with both drivers and cyclists. Look at Vancouver and the bike lane on Berrard issues. People are up in arms. Some funny news stories about peoples frustrations, like a guy picking up his bike and blocking a bus with it, drivers assaulting cyclists and vice versa.

We need a core group of regular cyclists to demonstrate proper cycling around Kelowna. In some places they hold regular weekly group rides for that purpose.

[DerKaiser]

I don't know what the answer is and its really too bad as the city has spent a lot on bike lanes and is continuing to do so yet so many flaunt the common sense rules and ride on sidewalks even when there is a bike lane, don't wear helmets and cut out in traffic as if they were immune to injury etc.

I actually do appreciate the cyclists who are doing it right and often smile or wave when they come along in a cheerful way. I would to bike myself but consider it too dangerous around Kelowna, I gave up my motorcycle for the same reason, too dangerous in this town.

These people that I see riding on streets like Harvey and Clement where there is no bike lane and challenging motorists to hit them is just plain stupid. You have to be out of your mind to be doing this and maybe some of them are. And of course none of these ones ever have a helmet on. And you never know when they are going to do something stupid like cut across the street or stand out in front of everybody at the red light and then block all traffic when the light changes. Or one of my favorites, ride across against the red in the crosswalk, then get back on the street.

A lot of cities are having this problem these days, trying to promote cycling but having a lot of problems with both drivers and cyclists. Look at Vancouver and the bike lane on Berrard issues. People are up in arms. Some funny news stories about peoples frustrations, like a guy picking up his bike and blocking a bus with it, drivers assaulting cyclists and vice versa.

We need a core group of regular cyclists to demonstrate proper cycling around Kelowna. In some places they hold regular weekly group rides for that purpose.

I think helmet are not the core issue. Not following traffic laws and regulations is. If that was done properly, then maybe helmets wouldn't be needed, because proper cycling would result in less accidents. Same with drivers not paying attention, or not following traffic laws...but then, the same idiots that are operation a motor vehicle are the ones walking/cycling/riding.
I used to love to cycle, but I barely do anymore because it is way too dangerous in this town.
I have to disagree with you about the cyclist on busy streets such as HWY 97 not wearing helmets. I pay a lot of attention to cyclists, and I must say that most of the cyclists that ride on those busy streets with no bike lanes, are actually wearing helmets. I also must say, that those wearing helmets, don't pay any more attention or follow traffic laws, than cyclists without helmets. They do some crazy, suicidal stuff. I had a female cyclist cut me off, turning left in front of me, and she was wearing a helmet. This is just one many examples. It is just nuts how many idiots are on the road in this town.

[Woodenhead]

Helmets don't matter, BS law.



Sidewalks need to be widened to accommodate cyclists, none of this green lane BS. We are not cars and have no reason to be on the highway with them when there is ample room in most places to have just a touch wider sidewalk.

Please provide us with some data or facts that substantiate your "Helmets don't matter" claim as everything I've ever read shows helmets do indeed matter a great deal in preventing rider injury.
The word is sidewalk not sideride, sideskate, sideboard or even sidedrive. Cyclists walking their bikes, as they are required to when in a pedestrian crosswalk are permitted to use a sidewalk because they will then be travelling at the same speed as the pedestrians who the space was built and intended for. Cyclist are indeed not cars but they are also not pedestrians either hence the recent appearance of bikelanes. Cyclists travel at a much higher rate of speed than pedestrians and should not be sharing the same space unless the cyclists are dismounted and walking while on the pedestrian sidewalk

lol OK how about: driveway, parkway. Which one do you park on & which one do you drive on?

Helmets don't matter, BS law.

Reflectors are standard on most bikes, you don't legally need to WEAR reflectors.

Sidewalks need to be widened to accommodate cyclists, none of this green lane BS. We are not cars and have no reason to be on the highway with them when there is ample room in most places to have just a touch wider sidewalk.

Crossing intersections? Meh, if they do so stupidly it is their own life. Who cares if they die.

Exactly.

[cv23]

Bikes don't deserve the same rights as vehicles when they are on the road way, and it should be more-so up to them in regards to their safety.

??????