Author Archives: Administrator
Video of July 2012 Critical Mass
from on .
Toronto Star’s Ian Law makes case for cyclists to arm themselves.
The Toronto Star’s Ian Law took a drive in the country and came back with two stories after running into a pair of cyclists. He calls on cyclists to obey some laws yet espouses the law of the jungle when it suits him. What he does in the end is makes a case for cyclists arming themselves. Here are some selected quotes from the articles.
“…But it’s only in the cyclist’s best interest not to argue with a two-ton vehicle over who has the right to that portion of the road at any given time. The cyclist will always lose that argument even when they are right. After all, you wouldn’t bring a knife to a gunfight…”
“…it only makes sense to avoid confrontations with massive machines. I would suggest they use more common sense and be less stubborn on the road. Know when and where to pick your fights…”
“…If we lived in the ideal world where we didn’t have impaired, distracted or even raging motorists and truckers, that would probably be OK to do. But on our roads, standing your ground may only get you six feet under the ground…”
The solution to this seems very simple to me. Cyclists only need to apply Ian Law’s rationale to stay alive. All they need to do is go buy a nice shiny .357. Now the cyclists are kings and queens of the road. What driver in their right mind would not give a wide berth to Dirty Harry on a bicycle?
Bicycle Blessing April 22, 2012
Effect of bike lanes on property values.
Just want to update a post a did earlier with some info I just found. I could not find this type stuff before but came across it while looking up ‘Apophenia’, yes not related to cycling at all.
This 2006 study is out of the University of Delaware. It looks at the effect of bike lanes on property values.
Cannot protect the homes on Pharmacy Avenue.
The bike lanes have been removed on Pharmacy to protect those who thought it was a safety hazard. What is Councillor Berardinetti going to do about another common problem on Pharmacy Avenue? More often than not errant cars hit houses on Pharmacy Avenue rather than other cars. Luckily the latest took place early on a weekend morning because it occurred at an intersection heavily used by young students walking to school on weekdays.
Wonder how many people want to live on Pharamacy Avenue when there is a risk of them being hit by a car while they are in their home? So far they have been lucky, no homeowners have been injured.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1074610–driver-flees-after-crashing-into-scarborough-home?bn=1
Save Jarvis
Was sign a sign that someone would be killed?
Traffic car keeps watch over stop sign on August 14th.
On August 5th Jack Roper, 84 years old, was killed by a car while riding his bicycle on Greenwood Avenue. The car was driven by an 81 year old driver. I think TreeHugger sums up the issue of driving and age best. Although we really do not know anything of the driver and his abilities.
Don Mills southbound empties cars from the Don Valley Parkway onto O’Connor. They then have three choices, east or west on O’Connor or south on Greenwood. As you can imagine drivers are adjusting to the slower residential speeds (there is a word for that phenomenon), so they are going at a good clip. On Greenwood the first thing they hit is a stop sign, the one Jack Roper got killed at. Apparently residents have been complaining for years about people running the stop sign. How effective are stops signs in residential areas when faced with a high volume of cars wanting to get home fast?
Looking south on Greenwood from O'Connor. Stop sign is where car is at.
It is interesting to note after this stop sign at Plains Road there is a traffic light for Cosburn. Too bad someone has to get killed before these bad designs/poor planning designs get some attention.
A Ghost Bike for Jack Roper.
College Street Jarvis’D?
Tom Polarbear writes,
I left Urbane Thursday and rode up St. George to College and as I turned onto College to ride east, I said “WOAH!”
The College Street bike lane has been scrubbed out in both directions, all the way to Bay Street.
Is this Ford running around taking bike lanes out?
Or is it being done in preparation for applying new lines (its about time)?!?
Lithuanian Mayor crushes cars parked in bike lane.
Picked this up from JET’s FB page.