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Woman dies after being struck by bike on sidewalk

Personally, I feel safer cycling on major arteries outside the core as I find motorists to be a little more predictable on these roads; though, I realize I'm an exception to most cyclists in Toronto. The pavement surfaces are generally better and the lanes wider, so there's no difficulty in sharing the roads in the suburban reaches.
 
If I feel unsafe, I just take the whole lane. As a vehicle, I am entitled to an entire lane of traffic and most drivers don't realize that moving off to the side into the crack ridden gutter is a courtesy. If it there is not enough room for a car to give me at least a foot of buffer without going into oncoming traffic, I don't let them pass.

While I feel relatively safe on the road, many people think I'm crazy for biking everywhere, especially in KW.
 
There are bike lanes on Sheppard Avenue East (between Morningside and Kingston Road), yet most people ride on the sidewalk as they are scared of cars racing down the street
 
I don't think we should expect a 15 year old to ride on the road, especially in a place where it could be dangerous.

I bike on the road here in Mississauga, and I think it is ok. Mississauga has a decent selection of minor throughfares as alternative to the major throughfares. Scarborough has a lot of north-south arterials as well and half of them do not have interchange with the 401, so biking in Scarborough should be ok too, as long as you are not going east-west.
 
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Bicyclist need a barrier of some sort to be separated from the automobile traffic, to prevent sideswipes. But still leave a sidewalk only for the pedestrians.
 
Bicyclist need a barrier of some sort to be separated from the automobile traffic, to prevent sideswipes. But still leave a sidewalk only for the pedestrians.

I don't know how wide the ROW is, but a suburban road could look like this (quick example I found on streetview from NL)...

dutch_3.jpg


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Space for trams, space for cars, space for bikes (separated from traffic), space for pedestrians , including separating the crossings at intersection as much as possible (note the stripes where pedestrians cross and lines where cyclists go)

Also note the signals... in the first picture, the car can turn right but the cyclists have to stop at their signal (avoiding the dreaded right hook)

Also, note that the cyclists cross the intersection in the same type of way that pedestrians do... i.e. no crossing two lanes to turn left and right turns can be done without entering the intersection.

for transit city, it will look more like this....

shepprdcross.jpg


Are people really going to feel safe trying to turn left on a bike, cycling in a 1.6 metre lane right beside a busy four lane road, or watching out for cars turning right and crossing/straddling the bike lane? I think many will still use the sidewalk.
 
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Turns out the teen bikes was legally allowed to be on the sidewalk....

Sure, and legally I'm allowed to drive my car on the road, but then if I kill someone while driving I'll likely be charged with vehicular manslaughter (at least). I don't see why the teen shouldn't be charged with manslaughter, and then let the courts decide whether or not he should be held responsible.
 
How would bike licensing keep cyclists off of the sidewalk? Motorists are supposed to be licensed, yet in my neighbourhood I see them driving/parking on sidewalks more often than cyclists.

1) If it persuaded 40-50% of cyclists to obey the rules of the road (I'm pulling those figures out of the air), then it would be an improvement.
2) Cyclists not obeying rules of the road (riding on sidewalks, down the opposite way of one-way streets, not signaling at turns etc.) would be fined. That would create incentive for more cyclists to ride safely & responsibly and again, generate revenues for the City.

However, most of these bike lanes will still be curbside lanes with cars zooming by. And as pointed out earlier, the speeds get higher the further away you get from the core. There is no way I would ride my bike on the road on major artery say in Scarborough. People drive upwards of 70 km/h on some of these roads. I don't want a car going that fast, inches away from me. If the politicians want use to ride more, they will do what they did in Ottawa and build a completely segregated bicycle network with as few bike lanes on roads as possible. It's truly a pleasure to ride a bike in Ottawa.

I couldn't agree more, see W.K.Lis's photo below.


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Bicyclist need a barrier of some sort to be separated from the automobile traffic, to prevent sideswipes. But still leave a sidewalk only for the pedestrians.

This is exactly what is needed in Toronto however in a perfect world, something a little more pleasing to the eye would be nice and ideally a dual bike lane on one side of the street so as to minimize impact on parking spots. Imagine how many more people would take up cycling if we had separated cycling lanes along streets and avenues as shown above?
I can dream!
 
Sure, and legally I'm allowed to drive my car on the road, but then if I kill someone while driving I'll likely be charged with vehicular manslaughter (at least). I don't see why the teen shouldn't be charged with manslaughter, and then let the courts decide whether or not he should be held responsible.

not really, if you kill someone with your car you might get a fine of $110 http://www.thestar.com/article/450857 or charged with failing to stop at a stop sign http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/581737 or maybe careless driving at best http://news.therecord.com/article/542841 after they blame the victim who did nothing wrong http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/454337

If you are drunk and you kill you might get a heftier charge, but usually you'll be back in society within 5 years or so, even if you are the 'worst of offenders' http://www.niagarathisweek.com/printarticle/200707

Even if you kill a cop with your car and have previously run up $14,000 in fines for bad driving, you'll just get 2 years probation and not be able to drive for 1 year http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/250287
 
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What about if we do plow the bike paths and lanes, could we prevent pedestrians from using them is the sidewalk is snowcovered? People walk on the roads because the sidewalks aren't shoveled. (Last year there were complaints from the automobile-addicted about snow clearing of bike paths.)
 
Lawlessness....

Once you get off your bike to assualt someone you have crossed the line. People need to be charged when this happens and thrown in jail. Period. We're way too soft on people now. Regarding assualts by cyclists?

I can't imagine walking with your kid and then having this happen. I would have gone nuts on the guy and introduced him to the concrete. This is another example of what our society has become. Self entitlement out of control.

As for the teen that killed this woman?

If I were a relative and told that the teen was legally entitled to riding his bike that killed my relative in the process while on the sidewalk, I would be out of my mind with rage. Someone is responsible here and I think it's this teen. Bet this teen didn't even research first whether it was legal to ride on the sidewalk before doing it.

I cannot believe how much dummer our society becomes every time I hear of a new situation where people behave this badly.
 
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Once you get off your bike to assualt someone you have crossed the line. People need to be charged when this happens and thrown in jail. Period. We're way too soft on people now. Regarding assualts by cyclists?

I can't imagine walking with your kid and then having this happen. I would have gone nuts on the guy and introduced him to the concrete. This is another example of what our society has become. Self entitlement out of control.

As for the teen that killed this woman?

If I were a relative and told that the teen was legally entitled to riding his bike that killed my relative in the process while on the sidewalk, I would be out of my mind with rage. Someone is responsible here and I think it's this teen. Bet this teen didn't even research first whether it was legal to ride on the sidewalk before doing it.

I cannot believe how much dummer our society becomes every time I hear of a new situation where people behave this badly.

Even though it is legal to ride on the sidewalk with a small-tired bike, you still have to operate with care just like if you were jogging, operating a mini-snow plow, or riding a powered chair. Always yield to pedestrians especially since they can't hear you, I hate people who bike on sidewalks and expect you to get out of their way.

Unfortunately our system doesn't punish people who kill using vehicles, usually they will say something like 'I didn't see them' and get away with it, or get a light slap on the wrist, because I think people relate to the vehicle operators and wouldn't want to go to jail or be banned for driving for life if they weren't paying attention or were speeding a bit etc and 'just happened' to kill someone (even though that careless action directly caused the death)
 
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Unfortunately our system doesn't punish people who kill using vehicles, usually they will say something like 'I didn't see them' and get away with it, or get a light slap on the wrist, because I think people relate to the vehicle operators and wouldn't want to go to jail or be banned for driving for life if they weren't paying attention or were speeding a bit etc and 'just happened' to kill someone (even though that careless action directly caused the death)

Seriously. As I always say, if you are feeling murderous don't kill with a gun or a knife. Hop in your car and mow the person down. Even if you do so deliberately, recklessly, and with obvious intent to kill, the sentence you receive will be a fraction of that for shooting someone. If you can make it even vaguely appear to be accidental you could probably walk away nearly scot free.

It always amazes me how as a society we are almost willfully blind to the massive carnage caused by automobiles, even as we obsess over things like gun crime and terrorist attacks which are statistically far, far, far, far less likely to affect most of us. It's a cliche, but I like the expression "there are no accidents". Almost every collision, injury and death by vehicle could have been prevented in some way.
 
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It always amazes me how as a society we are almost willfully blind to the massive carnage caused by automobiles, even as we obsess over things like gun crime and terrorist attacks which are statistically far, far, far, far less likely to affect most of us.

No one is willfully blind to automobile accidents or deaths. The obsession that you cite (gun crime and terrorism) are moral panics largely supported by sensationalist media or by politicians or activists seeking attention for their pet concern. That's not to say that gun crime or terrorism are absent as issues, it's just saying that we are lucky that these things do not really affect us so much here.

Automobiles are essential and integrated means of transportation, and great effort has been expended in order to make that mode of transportation safer. Nevertheless, accidents happen, and some drivers simply choose to behave in a negligent, dangerous or idiotic manner. There is no excuse for such behaviour, and drivers who break the rules of the road should face fines, charges, insurance increases and/or the loss of their license in extreme cases.

This does not give cyclists a pass. I cycle quite often, but I never cease to be amazed at how absolutely stupid some cyclists behave. Red lights mean nothing, stop signs are non-existent, pedestrians are always in their way (as are other cyclists). Some of the sidewalk behaviour is outrageous. The other day I saw little kids have to jump out of the way in a crosswalk as a cyclist rode through as if it were her god-given right to do so. I've had cyclists angrily yell at me "watch where you're going" as they've come up behind me and felt threatened that my movements on a sidewalk somehow denied them their rights to bolt along that pedestrian route at high speed.

I'm not alone with respect to these experiences.

If anything, the message being transmitted by far too many cyclists is "I'm on a bike, get out of my way."

If cyclists want to be taken seriously on the roads (because we are talking about bikes as a mode of transportation), then they have to drive on the roads and follow the rules of the road - including signaling, stopping at red lights and stop signs and trying to be aware as much as possible of what is going on around them. They should wear a helmet, have a bell, use lights at night and wear at least one piece of light-coloured clothing or reflective gear. Take notice and be noticed.

Unless they are a child, they should not be driving on a sidewalk - ever.
 

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