Regional Committee talks cycling safety
Posted Nov 15, 2011 11:44:47 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An issue that keeps coming up for debate is cycling safety, and how to improve the roads around Wateroo Region to enhance it.
The Regional Active Transportation Advisory Committee is holding a late afternoon meeting at the Regional Administration Building on Frederick Street. It begins with a dinner at 4:30. The purpose is to review and provide feedback on the Region’s existing and planned cyclist and pedestrian safety campaigns.
Paula Sawicki is Manager of Strategic Transportation Planning with Waterloo Region and tells 570’s Jeff Allan Show, they have been holding a series of workshops over the past few weeks asking people what they would like to see improved, what their thoughts are on winter maintenance, and what kind of cycling facilities they would like to see in the future. She says one thing that keeps coming up are cycling laws. The committee has heard that there are some other places around the world that have laws in place that if you hit a cyclist, the driver is automatically at fault, but those are places that have significantly more cycling than we have here. Sawicki also adds that those kinds of laws would have to be approved at a provincial level.
Sawicki says there are some improvements that have already been made including designated cycling lanes, which are marked with a diamond. She says drivers could actually be charged if they are caught in that lane. You are also not allowed to park in those lanes. Sawicki says what they can do, moving forward, is to see where cyclists are using shoulders that are currently unmarked and find out if they can be changed to cycling lanes. Sawicki says it’s going to take time to get a full cycling network in place around the region. In 1994, the first cycling master plan was developed and 17 years later we still don’t have a full network. When the Region is reconstructing a road they try and put cycling lanes in, but the rest of the road may not have lanes for a few years depending on the Region’s budget.
Roger Braun owner of Braun’s Bicycle Stores tells 570 News he’s sat on numerous cycling safety committees over the years and doesn’t think things are changing. As a life long cyclist, he says there are three key things that need to be implemented by cyclists and drivers alike: communication, awareness, and common sense. Braun says safety campaigns like the one happening this afternoon need to be done more at a grass roots level, starting with kids in public school. He says just knowing what to do would eliminate most of the problems drivers have with cyclists and vice versa.
