henry, youre sad but false

also, i see sooooo many bad cyclists tthat have no business being on the road, and i know for a fact that many of the accidents with cars are actually the fault of bad cycling….a report of the 120 or so cycling deaths in 2017 found that only 33% were related to car accidents and of that percentage 70% were found both at fault while the remainder was 50/50 split of cars actually breaking laws and being at fault…so out of 120 deaths only 40 were car related–30 of these were shared fault, 5 were car fault and 5 were cyclist fault….the outrage is really tribal and inaccurate, and cyclists need to start being more honest about the amount of bad cycling out there and the amount of other cycling deaths overwhelmingly not related to cars….

as a longtime resident and cyclist in toronto you people are all over exagerrating and are just weak….grow a pair…we dont own the road, and quite frankly we should just be cycling anywhere theres space and not in formal lines—part of biking in the city is the adventure and having the common sense awareness and quick manouveres and adapatations to urban jungle—-its not an “urban spa”…this is like a off road biker whining theres too many trees, hills, rocks, and that its kinda dangerous…duuuhhh

To answer your question I am arguing that life in a large city such as Toronto can improve not only for cyclists but for majority of the population, if certain steps are taken to control and limit the use of cars and the speed they travel within the city. There are no divine commandments that states that an individual drives alone in vehicle built for five or six people and a speed of 60km plus within 3 feet of a pedestrian or bicyclist and he/she gets a priority over anyone else on the street while a small distraction on any sort can maim or kill with limited in any penalty.

The truck driver, and most other motorists who are in a lane from which they can make a right hand turn, are not expecting that there will be vehicle which can go straight on there right hand side. The same holds true for side of road tram tracks on roads like Cherry. The people who think either of these designs are good ideas without a set of separate signals has not observed how people behave when driving.

If you want to see this google tram car collisions on YouTube. Most of them occur when cars are allowed to make left turns at the same time trams go by in a right of way on the left hand side or can make a right hand turn while trams can go by on the right hand side. They believe, and I agree with them, that if you are allowed to make turn from that lane then there should not be another vehicle who is allowed to go by you on the side to which you are turning. Don’t blame the cyclist or the drivers for accidents that are the result of bad design.

If there is going to be safer cycling in Toronto then some streets are going to have to be reserved for bikes. God help the cyclists if Ford becomes premier.

Unlike the ‘Vision Zero’ adopted by Toronto Mayor and City Council you seem to believe that a number of cyclists killed is acceptable for the city. But leaving that aside your statistics and particularly the way you calculate is not based on science and real life results. In reality the chances of getting killed in Toronto for a cyclist are multiple of your calculation.
I suggest that you look at this blog “Your Risk of Immediate Death” https://tdaglobalcycling.com/2013/03/your-risk-of-immediate-death/

Do you just expect cyclists to be immune to the things that come with living in a city of this size? Water is wet, the sun rises everyday, and some cyclists are going to get hit by cars in Toronto. Whining about any of these things won’t change them. It’s like you’re swimming with sharks and then bitching that one bit you.

Yes I know the spilling phenomena and your suggestions are all important. Yesterday when I was interviewed by CBC I mentioned that reducing the speed limit is the one single most important act that will save countless of lives and improve quality of life in the city.

By the way our Trans Europa trip this year begins in Helsinki on July 8th.

I agree activism is the way to go, the more the better. I also think it would be great if Toronto would have a sort of Five Borough type of a ride.
And yes TDA rides have changed lives of many. Certainly changed my life.

Thanks for sharing this. It energizes me to write a letter of my own. I believe the more he hears about it, the more chances we have that something happens.

Love “Caronto”, “‘carrupt’ ‘carist’” justice system. I will borrow it and use it in the future.

Sad but all true.

People in this city routinely respond like I’m insane when I tell them I commute daily for 23km on these streets for 9-10 months of the year. I can’t blame them. It was my own dismay at what I found in Toronto after riding to work for five years in Tokyo that caused me to become active on some issue for the first time in my life. A link in my Councillor’s newsletter led me to Cycle Toronto, a non-profit with the mission to “advocate for a safe, healthy and vibrant cycling city for all”.

Last night, Cycle Toronto members gathered to mark their ten year anniversary. There were certainly some achievements to celebrate, but the dismal state of affairs in the city was hard to miss. The organization’s first executive director spoke on the exhausting nature of fighting the same fight for ten years with the same obstacles and similar outcomes. The current ED then also spoke on similar themes. The death this week in the Dundas cycle lane came up.

We’ve certainly got a long way to go. To me, it seems activism is the only response. Hopefully, we can make street safety an issue in this election, and then keep it on the agenda for the years to come.

Again, thanks for writing. TDA’s tours look like life-changing experiences.

To Mayor Tory and the City of Toronto:

I’m just reading in today’s paper about more tragic and unnecessary cyclist deaths. As a cyclist and pedestrian, I am aware daily of the deadly risks on Toronto streets. And to me, the other measures – the construction of bike lanes etc. – though important, are not as vital as one measure the city still has not taken: to substantially reduce speed limits and PROVIDE POLICE OVERVIEW.

Every day, as a walker and cyclist, I am nearly run down by speeders, zooming through yellow and even red lights, driving at incredible speeds to get past streetcars – and not just cars, but even more dangerously, trucks. I have never once seen any interference with blatant disregard for speeding laws – not a policeman, not radar, nothing. Drivers are careless because they have no reason not to be.

Except every so often, when one of them kills someone. They will continue to do so until they are forced to slow down, and the only way that will happen is by reduction of the speed limit and reinforcement of the laws. This will grow more acute a problem as construction is forcing delays on nearly every street in the city – and motorists are growing increasingly angry and impatient. More deaths to come, guaranteed.

Please let me know where I should address my concerns.
Yours,
Beth Kaplan

I might also add that the road conditions in Toronto are atrocious: full of potholes and debris, which is another hazard. This winter my wife and I cycled, fully loaded, about 5000 kms from Singapore to Bangkok, and between us we had one flat tire,
as the roads are in excellent condition. Last year the first time I went out on my heavy duty city bike, I got a puncture..

andrew