the lemur
Senior Member
The point is that this type of accident can't possibly be prevented by bike lanes. I don't know the details but the accident on Jarvis sounds like a right-angle collision where someone must have gone through a red light. The laws of physics are such that if a bike (or pedestrian) is hit by a car, the bicyclist or pedestrian will get seriously hurt and the driver will walk away.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2670789/cyclist-in-serious-condition-after-being-struck-in-west-toronto/ And there was another bike accident today near Dufferin & Bloor.
I think that the only thing that is going to prevent all these serious bike accidents is for people to stop riding bikes, and for city council to stop encouraging people to ride bikes. There have been a lot of accidents on College St and other roads with bike lanes.
Keep in mind that statistically riding a bike in Toronto is far more dangerous than being a pedestrian or driving a car. I know that serious car accidents happen all the time as do pedestrian accidents, but driving or walking are still a lot safer than riding a bike simply because the number of people who drive or walk are orders of magnitude higher.
You don't know the details, so you just invent a scenario that suits your point.
The type of bike lane that prevents collisions more than anything is SEPARATED bike lanes. The city needs to build better ones. Assuming that driving is safer and should be encouraged does nothing for congestion, and walking actually seems more dangerous than biking at the moment.