Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Share the road: A little bit of creative thinking could help to keep us all safe

News of Sunday’s horrific cycling accident in Kanata has reignited the drivers versus cyclists debate on talk radio, in the papers and on Internet discussion forums. And hopefully the debate — with some degree of consensus — will help everyone (drivers, cyclists and pedestrians) better understand how to, as the city’s social marketing campaign states, “share the road.”

My thoughts and prayers go out to the injured cyclists. And to be clear, there is no indication they were doing anything but safely enjoying a Sunday ride along March Rd. with a well marked bike lane — which makes it that much more difficult to comprehend the carnage that resulted in a minivan clipping five riders who were cycling in succession. 

The broader issue of cycling safety — and what behaviours should change — is one in which we all have a role to play.  As a regular commuter to and from the core each day, there is room for improvement on all sides.

Let’s start with the most egregious examples of poor riding. The all too often dangerous behaviour of downtown bike couriers does nothing to further the cause of cyclists as a whole. Just stand at any intersection on Queen, Laurier, Bank, Lyon or Kent streets on a normal business day and watch the litany of red light running, multiple lane changes with no hand signals, idling at crosswalks to the detriment of pedestrians and wrong way driving down one way streets that occurs. My office has a view of four separate intersections up and down O’Connor and I have witnessed four separate infractions since starting to type this column.

Drivers as well need to step up their collective game. Our downtown and suburban streets are clearly marked with dedicated cycling lanes for through traffic and turning alike. And we are all guilty of, at times, treating these lanes as short cuts or ignoring them altogether. 

Trouble spots such as eastbound on the Laurier bridge toward Nicholas, or the westbound lanes along Albert St. where vehicle turning lanes intersect with straight ahead bicycle lanes immediately spring to mind. It’s a miracle of sorts that more cyclists haven’t been injured on these routes and others where drivers are blissfully ignorant of cyclists potentially approaching on either side of their vehicles.

As for solutions to make the roads safer for all concerned, ideally, more common sense and courtesy should be practised. Yes this is a Kumbaya stretch of sorts but we have to start somewhere.

The city should also consider deploying posts complete with reflective markings to divide traffic and bike lanes on major routes, and as it adds new bike lanes. Several other cities, large and small, have adopted this practice usually in the periods from mid-April to mid-October. This solution, as opposed to a separate curb-divided biking lane, is more cost-effective.

And while I am no fan of large-scale municipal communications projects — since the city does not have a good track record with modest or targeted efforts — it may be worthwhile to develop a quick web-focused campaign with the use of some city-owned advertising space (when sales are low) highlighting some of the rules of the road where there is confusion as to who has the right of way, how to pass safely, etc.

Limited collateral materials in print could also be produced for distribution to cycling enthusiasts, through the schools and potentially licence renewal centres. Costs could be defrayed through sponsorship (think insurance companies or bike manufacturers) with a little bit of creative thinking. Let’s all share the road.