Co-mingling of cyclists, pedestrians requires safe behaviour

SATURDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Conflicts between cyclists and motorists are common, but cyclists and pedestrians less so.

A woman in Vancouver wants cyclists banned from the city’s famous seawall after a collision that could have had tragic consequences. Charmaine Mitchell told Vancouver media she and a friend were walking along the seawall when two cyclists passed them at high speeds.

 

 

She said she jumped out of the way but was hit by another cyclist, which caused her to fall over the seawall and land on sharp rocks below, causing a fracture in her back, a knee a a toe.

Incidents between pedestrians and cyclists on the seawall aren’t uncommon, according to some who are regular users.

As Canadians join the fitness evolution and green movement, they struggle with etiquette and safety issues. Our governments haven’t yet committed themselves substantially to investing in bike lanes when roads and highways are built or rebuilt — our cities and rural regions alike remain dominated by the automobile.

Several tragic deaths are proof that government needs to spend on separating cyclists and vehicles rather than hoping they’ll work it out.

But what about routes that are purpose built for multi use? Here in the Tournament Capital, the bicycle master plan is an imperfect work in progress, and our few multi-purpose paths remain somewhat experimental.

For example, motorized transportation is banned from the Rivers Trail and that’s a good thing. In the 14 years since it was built, cyclists and pedestrians have co-existed in relative harmony but it’s not all smiles and chuckles.

Along Schubert Drive, for example, co-mingling works quite effectively but once the trail hits Riverside Park, not so much. The new multi-use path from Valleyview to downtown appears to be doing OK, perhaps largely because it has lower volumes of traffic.

We need more Valleyview-type connectors and bike lanes both but we also have to change our behaviour. Caution and a code of safe conduct are the only sure defences we have right now, but the unfortunate incident in Vancouver demonstrates we haven’t yet mastered them.