http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ BikingToronto Forum Topic: Toronto Star Editorial: We need to share the city's roads en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:39:10 +0000 http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=262#post-624 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:45:36 +0000 joe 624@http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/ <p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/689565">The Star has a nice sensible editorial</a> about sharing the roads in the wake of <a href="http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=258">Monday nights tragedy</a>:</p> <p><ul><li><em>The latest altercation between a car and a bicycle on Toronto's streets has left cyclist Darcy Allan (Al) Sheppard dead and former attorney general Michael Bryant facing two charges of criminal negligence and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.</p> <p>It is important not to prejudge Bryant's actions. That is best left to the courts. But the incident serves as a tragic reminder that we all have to share the road: motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.</p> <p>That means we have to be respectful of each other. But, given the enormous power imbalance between someone in a multi-tonne vehicle and someone on a bicycle in the same lane, motorists have a responsibility to be extra careful to watch out for cyclists.</p> <p>This is not to say that cyclists (and pedestrians) have no obligation to follow the rules of the road; they do. But it is an acknowledgement that the consequences are far more deadly for cyclists than motorists when the two collide.</p> <p>Unfortunately, at the very time when we are encouraging cycling as a healthy, environmentally friendly choice and, accordingly, seeing more cyclists on the road, we are seeing a growing animosity between them and motorists.</p> <p>Annoyances too easily and too often escalate into confrontation, verbal or otherwise. We let this happen at our collective peril.</p> <p>Premier Dalton McGuinty summed it up appropriately yesterday. "It's just very sad," he said. "It is very tragic how events that unfold inside a minute can have such a profound impact on peoples' lives, negative impact."</p> <p>We should all take these words to heart and strive to find the courtesy, patience and respect for life that is needed to share the road without tragedy.</p> <p>There are increasing frustrations involved in getting around this city – due to congestion, construction, delivery vehicles blocking lanes, illegal parking and so on. We must all take care to guard against the road rage that can emerge from such frustrations.</p> <p>And one hopes that we can learn from this tragedy rather than let it deepen the "us against them" divide between motorists and cyclists.</em></li></ul></p> <p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/689565"><img src="http://www.thestar.com/App_Themes/TheStar/images/logo_torontostar.gif"></a> </p>