Topic: Bike accident kills woman

[airbalancer]

really sad
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/678257

[Winklovic]

I think I'm going to start throwing sticks into the spokes of those illegally riding on the sidewalk.  I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

[EV Dan]

I think I'm going to start throwing sticks into the spokes of those illegally riding on the sidewalk.  I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

Very sad. But do you want this 15 y.o. kid ride in Kennedy Rd traffic?  By the way it was legal for him to be there.
All you can do here is give the teen some kind of community assignment to educate his schoolmates about the danger of speeding, wherever it takes place. I don't want to sound blunt, but pedestrians get killed, many more of them on the same sidewalks, but by cars.
Of course you can throw sticks in the spokes but how is it going to solve the issue?

[Winklovic]

I failed to notice that he was not riding illegally.  My mistake.

However, the sidewalks here are full of adults riding their bicycles. 

[toolatecrew]

"It's not a good idea to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk but not strictly illegal," Bowman said, adding that the tire size (less than 61 cm) of the teen's bike would allow him to ride on the sidewalk.

Seems that the laws need revising. 61 cm tires (24 inches) that's an adult sized bike capable of speeds of 15 or 20 Mph i'd say (especially if you happen to be on a downhill)

Once again people riding bikes in areas where its either allowed or where one would reasonably expect pedestrians is a major pet peeve of mine. I nearly hit 2 kids last night becuase of it. I was travelling 40 kph (in a 50 zone) in a residential area. I could clearly see that there were NO people walking on the sidewalk or standing near the crosswalk. All of a sudden out of a pedestrain path (that comes out of the woods a few feet from the sidewalk) two kids on bikes ride out of the path at speed right across the crosswalk in front of me.

Motorists even careful ones have enough to worry about without trying to react to unexpected things like that happening. A pedestrian could not move that fast from the exit from the path to the crosswalk. Even if they were running and did not stop to look both ways you'd have lots of time to react. A bike not so much.

If you want bikes and pedestrians to share a space it needs to be wide enough,should have a deviding line and there should be warning signs that cyclyes need to slow down. If traffic is too busy for a child to safley ride the road (you can't drive a car on the road until you are 16) then they should dismount and walk their bike on the sidewalk. Another pet peeve (legal or not) if you are on the sidewalk or crosswalk you should behave as a PEDESTRIAN . If you want to be a vehicle do it on the road.

[lOCk]

This is a story about a young person misbehaving. If they had been on a skateboard or rollerblades the result might have been the same. This Star article omits the fact that this is the first serious cyclist-pedestrian accident reported in Toronto this year. Given less than two of these accidents on average a year, and the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists on our pavements, what are the odds of this happening? Versus the carnage on our streets from automobile traffic with an injury happening every 30 minutes on average?
The media and readers lack perspective IMHO.
tks
loKk

[No H2O]

I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

I hope you carry liability insurance.

A bicyclist almost wrote me and my motorcycle off a few years back. Out of the blue, the idiot decides to do a 180° turn on the country road...with no driveways or streets for him to turn into.

I wonder how he was going to pay for my motorcycle and my injuries. He is lucky I don't freeze and know how to use my brakes and maneuver. I almost cut him in half.

[quadzilla]

I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

I hope you carry liability insurance.

  Do you also expect people walking to carry liability insurance?

[mmret]

I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

I hope you carry liability insurance.

  Do you also expect people walking to carry liability insurance?

Yes. Do not dare do anything that would put hcrv at the slightest risk or inconvenience.

[HeliDriver]

I'm a cyclist and I ride on the road.

I hope you carry liability insurance.

  Do you also expect people walking to carry liability insurance?

Yes. Do not dare do anything that would put hcrv at the slightest risk or inconvenience.

Nah, it's okay. He's got the mad skills to get him out of any risky situation.

[No H2O]

Do you also expect people walking to carry liability insurance?

Actually, I don't expect them to carry any insurance at all...if they can pay out for all damages they are responsible for.

But its a good thing you brought that up.

In the province of Ontario where insurance includes "Accident Benefits", if a city bus happens to hit a pedestrian, the bus insurance pays for the pedestiran's medical bills, loss of income, etc...unless the pedestrian also happens to own a car, in which case its the pedestrian's car policy that pays out. Go figure!

But to those whiners that always have negative constructive comments (sarcasm intended), they'll whistle a different tune when something affects them personally...seen it before.