It’s my road too

Posted: May 2nd, 2009 | Author: Karolijn | Filed under: Cycling, London, Why I Hate London | Tags: , , | 13 Comments »

I don’t hide the fact that if I was slightly homicidal, biking in London would tip me over the edge.

This will be my second summer and the problems with biking on London’s streets are striking compared to Ottawa, where I regularly commuted by bike. These problems happen everywhere, but in London the frequency is incredible.

  • Drivers don’t give cyclists enough any room when passing
  • Drivers don’t respect cyclists’ rights as vehicles on the road
  • Drivers often harass cyclists by honking at them or cutting them off
  • Cyclists don’t obey the rules of the road when they’re on it
  • Cyclists regularly bike on the sidewalk
  • Pedestrians walk on designated bike lanes and don’t respond to bike bells

All of these problems are, in my opinion, part of a larger systematic problem.
It’s not just cyclists that have it rough. Greg Fowler is often running up against brick walls when it comes to pedestrian rights. And transit users don’t get it much better.

Rules are poorly enforced. I’ve never seen a cyclist ticketed for biking on the sidewalk in London. Nor have I ever seen a driver even warned for careening blindly across a bike lane or pedestrian crosswalk.

Instinctually, I feel that the best way to fight this problem is to be safely aggressive and to be a presence. By cycling timidly on the sidewalk, cyclists are lying down and taking it.

I’ve argued until blue in the face with some local cyclists who think that it’s safer to bike on the sidewalk or on the separate roadside bike paths (which, in my opinion are the *most* dangerous place to be – but that’s another story).

Today I found some vindication in the Globe and Mail:

…There are still a puzzling number of people who are resistant to cycling on the grounds that it’s dangerous or impractical. In fact, though, London [England] statistics show that the number of biking accidents actually goes down as the number of cyclists goes up.

In Germany, where bike riding is part of the normal culture, people are 10 times more likely to ride a bike than Americans and three times less likely to get hurt while doing so.

The problem with cycling in North America and Britain (as opposed to, say, the Netherlands or Japan) is that it’s treated like a recreational sport rather than a normal way of getting around. Instead of increasing bike lanes, North American governments prefer to pass mandatory helmet laws. The irony is, of course, that cycling accident rates in continental Europe, where helmets are almost unheard of, are generally much lower.

The lesson here is simple: The more stylish cycling becomes, the safer and more practical it will be. (emphasis mine)

Cyclists that don’t bike on the roads as the vehicles they are make the roads more dangerous for everyone.

It says “I’m not really a vehicle, and you don’t need to respect me”.

It says “I’m not going to follow the rules of the road so you can’t trust me or predict what I’m going to do”

I know the roads are dangerous and that London driver’s licences may be the result of a Kellogg’s promotion gone wrong, but things won’t change unless we make them change.

As a cyclist, you’ll see me on the road, taking my lane, signalling and using four way stops correctly. The more people join in, the safer it will be for everyone. And that’s critical, because in London, we’ve got a LONG way to go.