Cycling Chaos

More cycling follies. This time I watched as a cyclist who was approaching an intersection saw an opportunity to make an early left and took it. Instead of making his left at the intersection, he abruptly crossed to the other side of the road several car lengths before arriving at the intersection. He proceeded to ride against traffic on the wrong side of the road and then cross in front of the path of a driver who was about to turn right. Once past the surprised driver, the cyclist finally made his left.

In Toronto, many cyclists follow the traffic rules only when it is convenient or when they have no choice; i.e., when traffic is so heavy it would be impossible to do anything but follow the rules. I still see many almost daily examples of such make-it-up-as-you-go-along cycling.

Many cities in the world have looser approaches to traffic rules. Ho Chi Minh City is such a place. This short video made by Rob Whitworth shows some excellent examples of the wild traffic in this Vietnamese city.

My feeling is that it is more pleasant to observe such traffic from a bird’s-eye view than it is to take part in it at ground level. Unlike in Ho Chi Minh City, in Toronto cyclists are still in the minority of road users. While Whitworth’s video show traffic moving fairly easily, I don’t think this kind of functional chaos could be successfully transplanted to Toronto’s car and truck–dominated roads.

Toronto traffic is not yet Ho Chi Minh City traffic. In Toronto, traffic proceeds in a—usually—orderly fashion. Drivers and pedestrians still expect their fellow road users to follow the rules. As Toronto's population grows, chaos on the roads will increase everyone’s travel times and make their trips more dangerous and stressful.

Cyclist to Pedestrian and Back Again

One neat trick I often see cyclists perform is the instant transformation from cyclist to pedestrian. This often happens when a cyclist reaches a red light and then turns left into the pedestrian crossing area in order to get to the other side of the street. If cyclists dismount and walk their bikes across the street, I don’t see a problem. But I more commonly see them remain on their bikes as they turn into the pedestrian area.

This is a dangerous manoeuvre. Pedestrians are not expecting cyclists to do it; nor are drivers. I’ve seen cyclists swerve into walkways at a fair clip, then weave among the startled pedestrians. There is a good chance of running into someone this way. And what of the driver at the intersection who is about to turn right? This driver will expect a cyclist to stop, not abruptly cut into the car’s path.

Another sudden cyclist-to-pedestrian-and-back transformation occurs when cyclists approach red lights at three-way intersections. If the sidewalk is on their right, some cyclists will jump to the sidewalk, bike past the intersection, and then jump back to the road. I imagine this must be very irritating to the drivers (and cyclists) who are patiently waiting for the light to change. I think cyclists, if they are not going to wait for a green light, should not bother with the pretense of biking onto the sidewalk. No one buys their bogus cover act of “Hey, look! Suddenly I’m a pedestrian—and suddenly I’m not!” They might as well just own what they are doing and bike through the red light.

Cyclists in Toronto still have a reputation for ignoring traffic rules. Pedestrians and drivers alike regularly complain about this. I feel the situation has improved in recent years, but cyclists’ reputation for road-warrior like behaviour is still well deserved.

January Cycling in Toronto

On a couple of recent bike rides, I was pleased to note that there seemed to be noticeably more cyclists braving the January cold than I remember from previous Januaries. I counted perhaps a dozen people on bikes during both of my 12 km round trips, downtown and back. I guess this still isn’t a large number, considering all the cars on the roads, but it strikes me that more cyclists are continuing to use their bikes through the winter this year.

This is a hopeful sign. After all, it has been pushing -10 degrees Celsius these days, and yesterday there was a stiff wind in my face for the downtownward part of my journey. Enough cold and wind to ensure in other years that the roads would be almost completely cyclist free. Perhaps cycling in the winter is becoming more normalized?

Still, a nurse at the hospital where I was visiting a patient exclaimed, “You’re brave to be out riding today!” A commonly voiced sentiment still these days. I always explain that the secret to staying warm is wearing extra layers of clothing—double socks, t-shirt under winter shirt and sweater, long johns, etc. Ideally, cycling in the winter would be considered no more unusual than skiing is in the winter.

While I was glad to see an increase in the number of cyclists out this January, I was disheartened today to see an example of cyclist behaviour that I hope is going away: I watched a man ride straight through a red light, this after only briefly slowing down to check for cross traffic. I can only imagine how irritated the drivers stopped at the intersection must have been. Certainly I was irritated. Why must these selfish cyclists continue to give cycling in the city a bad name?

During my trips downtown, I have been stopping off at the apartment complex where the patient I am visiting lives. This complex is huge: it comprises three large buildings, each of about thirty stories. As far as I can tell, there are no bike racks provided at all for the entire complex. I recognize that many tenants would prefer to keep their bikes in their apartments, to avoid having their bikes stolen, but surely such a large number of tenants should be provided with at least a few bike racks.

Licence to Ride

The other day I witnessed an almost comic example of clueless cycling. A man slowly glided his bike across Danforth Avenue, a major Toronto street, forcing a driver to have to slow down and then change lanes in order to avoid the cyclist. I’m not sure what was going through this man’s mind as he slowly made his way across Danforth, but I can make a better guess at what was going through the driver’s mind...

I remember reading a letter to the editor by someone who thought cyclists should be licensed and tested just as motorists are. This seems like a sensible idea to me. A report by Ontario’s coroner that was released in June 2012 found that of the 129 cycling deaths that occurred between 2006 and 2010, 44 were blamed on the actions of the cyclists involved.(1) I think it is time to bring some seriousness to the way cycling on city streets is approached.

Although I have noticed an improvement in cycling behaviour over the past several years, there still exists a Wild West mentality to cycling in Toronto. Some cyclists take the rules of the road seriously, but many still don’t. I don’t think obeying traffic rules should be optional. In fact I would be happy to see police handing out tickets to cyclists, an event I have yet to witness. Police do occasionally launch ticketing blitzes directed at cyclists, but I would rather see them enforcing the rules every day.(2)

Testing and licensing cyclists would ensure that all cyclists are aware of the traffic rules, and would hopefully reduce the number of deaths and injuries.

1. http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=187427
2. http://www.cp24.com/news/police-dish-out-tickets-in-bicycle-safety-campaign-1.949200

Sharing the Roads

The other day in a bookstore, I overheard a woman complaining about a cyclist who had just run a red light. In doing so, this cyclist had cut in front of the woman's path, nearly causing a collision.This woman had a legitimate complaint, obviously, and she had every right to be annoyed. Unfortunately, her complaint is one that can be made all too often by motorists.



After I left the bookstore, I witnessed several more examples of reckless cycling occur within the five minutes it took to walk to my bike and unlock it. Three cyclists in a row blew through a red light as though it weren't there. And more seriously, a seemingly crazed cyclist cut off a motorist as they were both proceeding down the road. The driver was in the left lane, and the cyclist in the right. The cyclist, seeing her way blocked by a parked van, abruptly swerved into the left lane, thereby cutting off the driver. The cyclist hadn't even signalled the lane change, and the driver had to brake and even move a bit out of his lane to avoid hitting the cyclist. After this, the driver rightfully honked; whereupon the cyclist had the temerity to tell him off and give him the finger!



The two biggest problems that I see on a regular basis are running red lights and reckless cycling. I am amazed at how often I see cyclists brazenly ride through red lights. I don't know why these cyclists think the rules of the road don't apply to them. What are motorists to think, seeing cyclists run red lights so often? I believe that this is a major contributor to the stress between the two camps. It is galling to see it happen over and over; it is like these cyclists are thumbing their noses at everyone who is waiting for a green light. As a cyclist, I am perhaps more annoyed by it than are motorists, because I know that it will only confirm some motorists' dim view of cyclists. Many drivers feel that cyclists should not even be on the roads, period; running red lights only confirms them in this opinion.



As for reckless cycling, I find it to mostly be a problem in the downtown of my city (Toronto). Often, these reckless cyclists are bike couriers. They veer wildly all over the road, swerving between temporarily stopped cars as if on an obstacle course. This is incredibly dangerous behaviour, but for many couriers, traffic rules are something to be ignored.



Cyclists shouldn't give motorists good reasons for their animosity. No wonder motorists are miffed! Who likes to see people flout rules that you follow? If cyclists are going to share the roads with motorists, cyclists will have to share the rules as well.