Bike Safe BC

[Fancy]

Original post -

I suppose it will eventually come to a pedestrian being killed (as happened in August in Toronto this year) by a cyclist on a sidewalk before anything will be done to ensure pedestrians' safety.

I got told I was "cherry picking". That was an intelligent counterpoint. /sarcasm
Next post:

I get tired of the ignorant cyclists on the sidewalks - they don't belong there.

I would think any intelligent person, cyclist or otherwise, would agree but I get told this:
"I get tired of ignorant, bitchy whiners talking about bikes on the sidewalk. Why don't YOU walk in the bike lane primarily, tell me how it feels."
And then the responses got worse. Take a deep breath and try again. Comment on the remarks - not the poster.

[cv23]

I never said they don't prevent injury.

yet you said:

Helmets don't matter, BS law.

and

I don't care about saving lives, the less people we have around(even if that includes myself) the better.

yet now you say;

I enjoy riding on the sidewalk more, no-one said I was suicidal, just that I could care less about "big brother" preventative measures.

Then we have:

I never said "I should be able to break the law". I just said that I do ride on the sidewalk where I feel more safe.

"More safe" or just that you enjoy doing it and could "care less" what the authorities/laws have to say about it?

I enjoy riding on the sidewalk more, no-one said I was suicidal, just that I could care less about "big brother" preventative measures.{/quote]

[Loed]

Original post -

I suppose it will eventually come to a pedestrian being killed (as happened in August in Toronto this year) by a cyclist on a sidewalk before anything will be done to ensure pedestrians' safety.

I got told I was "cherry picking". That was an intelligent counterpoint. /sarcasm
Next post:

I get tired of the ignorant cyclists on the sidewalks - they don't belong there.

I would think any intelligent person, cyclist or otherwise, would agree but I get told this:
"I get tired of ignorant, bitchy whiners talking about bikes on the sidewalk. Why don't YOU walk in the bike lane primarily, tell me how it feels."
And then the responses got worse. Take a deep breath and try again. Comment on the remarks - not the poster.

I did comment on the remarks, just happens to be that you made those remarks, lol. You're cherry picking your posts again Fancy.

[Loed]

I never said they don't prevent injury.

yet you said:

Helmets don't matter, BS law.

and

I don't care about saving lives, the less people we have around(even if that includes myself) the better.

yet now you say;

I enjoy riding on the sidewalk more, no-one said I was suicidal, just that I could care less about "big brother" preventative measures.

Then we have:

I never said "I should be able to break the law". I just said that I do ride on the sidewalk where I feel more safe.

"More safe" or just that you enjoy doing it and could "care less" what the authorities/laws have to say about it?

I enjoy riding on the sidewalk more, no-one said I was suicidal, just that I could care less about "big brother" preventative measures.{/quote]

I see a whole bunch of nested, out of context posts here, great job! You've only proven my point that I never said "helmets don't save lives". I said "helmets don't matter". Big difference there.

It is more safe, 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!" Guess what, no, it doesn't.

I enjoy riding my bike and being alive, that you are correct about.

[Fancy]

I see you have an issue walking safely about Kelowna. Maybe trying riding a bike if you can.

No I don't have an issue walking safely.

[Loed]

I'm sorry that you two cannot read, and cannot see any other point aside from your own.

Lets get back on topic now, your picking at my posts is only proving my points further.

[Fancy]

I'm sorry that you two cannot read, and cannot see any other point aside from your own.

Lets get back on topic now, your picking at my posts is only proving my points further.

Again with the insults - are you done now?

[Fancy]

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

I'm guessing poor coaching from parents and a lack of respect.

[Loed]

I'm sorry that you two cannot read, and cannot see any other point aside from your own.

Lets get back on topic now, your picking at my posts is only proving my points further.

Again with the insults - are you done now?

Question goes both ways, don't try to feign ignorance to your or dives and dashes towards myself and others Fancy.

Other people aside from yourself exist in this world too and have different perspectives and ideas than your own. It's about time you realize this.

[Fancy]

back to topic:

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

I'm guessing poor coaching from parents and a lack of respect.

[Loed]

It has little to do with respect, very, very little.

More to do with the fact that bikes have been(and will most likely always be) regarded as a non-serious toy, as well as a great means of getting around.

Many parents subscribe to this idea of thought and pass it on. Children get it into their head and other kids follow suit and things just cascade from there.

It won't change, and there are good examples and bad examples all over the place.

I'm more worried about those motorized scooters kids rip around on without a drivers license than I am about bikes personally.

[Fancy]

Incident occurred at the intersection of Enterprise/Leathead and HWY 97. I was making a left turn from Enterprise onto Hwy 97. There's an advanced green at that intersection for both directions of traffic. To make sure everyone knew what I was doing, I placed myself in the outer left turn lane (there are 2) and just before the light turned to let us go, I raised my arm to signal left so that everyone in my lane (if they were paying attention) would know what I intended to do. At this intersection there is a very faint painted line that indicates where the outermost lane will go. I figured to allow traffic in my lane to get through the intersection, I should hug that outermost line. That's what I did. Thoughts?

I'm not familiar with that intersection but I've shared left hand turn lanes many times with cyclists. I usually end up going slower than normal to allow the cyclist to clear the intersection and hug the bike lane again. Quite often they are in the middle so the intent of the cyclist is clear.

[Fancy]

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

As far as helmets are concerned, here is one link that has some statistics.

http://www.bhsi.org/stats.htm

[Loed]

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

As far as helmets are concerned, here is one link that has some statistics.

http://www.bhsi.org/stats.htm

No-one was saying helmets don't work. I was saying that it's a BS law to have forced on us. Just a money grab, like seat belts(seat belts save lives, but to have a fine enforced if we choose to not wear one is a little nanny-state ridiculous).

Everyone 15/16+ should be free to do as they chose, under there should be mandatory.

[cv23]

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.