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General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

PinkLucy said:
I wish they would enforce the rules, because they sure don't now. I've had scooter drivers tell me they can go wherever they want because they are environmentally friendly.
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Yep, that's just one of their many BS excuses:

'it's technically a bike' (because it has pedals that I never use)

'there's no emissions' (at least not until the batteries have to be discarded ... oh, and in the course of making the plastic bodywork, of course)

etc.
 
DSC said:
I think the problem now is that the rules are unclear. This report aims to clarify things but if you, like me, do not want scooters on ANY bike lanes, paths or trails and want the new by-law enforced I strongly suggest you write to the Committee. email address is on link above.
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I don't think the current rules are unclear at all. Nothing can be ridden in a bike lane unless it is propelled by pedals (not just capable of being pedalled, but pedalled while in the bike lane). Nothing with a motor of any kind can be operated on a park path or multi-use trail.
 
PinkLucy said:
I wish they would enforce the rules, because they sure don't now. I've had scooter drivers tell me they can go wherever they want because they are environmentally friendly.
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You get some real a$$es riding those things, some real trashy people (again, I'm generalizing and projecting my bad experiences to a larger group). But a lot of them are as bad as the worst cyclists just with more velocity.

Not that I haven't yelled at conventional cyclists either with "sideWALK" or when they pass me at a red light and I catch up to them (nothing bothers me more than having to pass a slower cyclist again after a red light or slowing down/stopping at a stop sign.)
 
ShonTron said:
You get some real a$$es riding those things, some real trashy people (again, I'm generalizing and projecting my bad experiences to a larger group). But a lot of them are as bad as the worst cyclists just with more velocity.

Not that I haven't yelled at conventional cyclists either with "sideWALK" or when they pass me at a red light and I catch up to them (nothing bothers me more than having to pass a slower cyclist again after a red light or slowing down/stopping at a stop sign.)
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Definitely. I can't count how many times I've reminded someone on a bike that it's a sideWALK and that red lights apply to bikes too. The red light thing often happens when I am stopped at one and another cyclist blows through it
 
ShonTron said:
Which, it does needs to be said, a lot of conventional cyclists are guilty of as well (signalling, for example).
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That's true. The thing about e-bikes is that when you don't ride them safely, predictably and courteously, the potential for serious collisions (with cyclists, pedestrians, etc.) is even greater than with regular bikes.

Over the past summer it seemed like many times I would be biking with a half-dozen others in a bike lane and coming to a stop in an orderly manner, only for someone on an e-bike to barge in near the front because he didn't feel like waiting with the cars. A lot of these e-bikers didn't seem to have experience riding anything in traffic and did things like stopping unpredictably, putting one foot down while turning, etc.
 
the lemur said:
That's true. The thing about e-bikes is that when you don't ride them safely, predictably and courteously, the potential for serious collisions (with cyclists, pedestrians, etc.) is even greater than with regular bikes.

Over the past summer it seemed like many times I would be biking with a half-dozen others in a bike lane and coming to a stop in an orderly manner, only for someone on an e-bike to barge in near the front because he didn't feel like waiting with the cars. A lot of these e-bikers didn't seem to have experience riding anything in traffic and did things like stopping unpredictably, putting one foot down while turning, etc.
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True. It's the stupidity of the conventional cyclists that most everyone hates (yes, even/especially the reasonable cyclists) plus the velocity of a moped plus the DUI/inexperienced component that seems to be overrepresented in the ebike user group.
 
There are some rules and conventions that everyone on the street needs to remember. Pedestrians need to remember to look before they cross, even if they don't hear a car. I've had more close calls with people stepping off the sidewalk in my way at random without looking than with cars in the past several years. I hit one person's arm who was standing at an intersection and jaywalked at random without looking just because that person couldn't hear any cars coming. Getting hit by a bike can be a nasty injury. (Though in this instance, it was just a close call.)
 
junctionist said:
There are some rules and conventions that everyone on the street needs to remember. Pedestrians need to remember to look before they cross, even if they don't hear a car. I've had more close calls with people stepping off the sidewalk in my way at random without looking than with cars in the past several years. I hit one person's arm who was standing at an intersection and jaywalked at random without looking just because that person couldn't hear any cars coming. Getting hit by a bike can be a nasty injury. (Though in this instance, it was just a close call.)
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Yep. No one is ever really entirely safe from someone else's inattentiveness or paying attention 100% of the time, no matter how they get around. I walk, I bike and I drive, and whichever mode I use, I am always just seconds away from encountering someone who isn't looking, doesn't signal, isn't focused, lacks patience ...

I have no real problem with jaywalking, but the one thing I don't understand is why some people do it at an angle so that they don't see what's coming up behind them for at least half the time they spend crossing.
 
the lemur said:
Yep. No one is ever really entirely safe from someone else's inattentiveness or paying attention 100% of the time, no matter how they get around. I walk, I bike and I drive, and whichever mode I use, I am always just seconds away from encountering someone who isn't looking, doesn't signal, isn't focused, lacks patience ...

I have no real problem with jaywalking, but the one thing I don't understand is why some people do it at an angle so that they don't see what's coming up behind them for at least half the time they spend crossing.
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I'm perfectly okay with jaywalking (illegal crossings in Ontario are only when close to, but not at a crosswalk or intersection, or against a red light or "don't walk" signal, against a "pedestrian crossing prohibited" sign, or interfering with traffic). As long as the pedestrian crosses with care and due diligence and not interfering with motor or cycle traffic.

I've had to ding my bell at inattentive pedestrians many times, crossing without looking or against a red light.
 
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M II A II R II K said:
Toronto votes against electric bikes in designated lanes

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ic-bikes-in-designated-lanes/article16275196/

Toronto’s bicycle lanes remain the preserve of those using their own power after a city committee chose not to heed staff advice to open them up to electric bikes.

.....
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In the transit debate, there were numerous people who said that politicians should stay out of the decision making process and leave it to experts. Those same people must be quite upset now.
 
BurlOak said:
In the transit debate, there were numerous people who said that politicians should stay out of the decision making process and leave it to experts. Those same people must be quite upset now.
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Transit planning is best left to experts, not politicians, and especially not idiots like Ford, but at least on the e-scooter issue the city drew the right conclusion. ;-)
 
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