Cyclists entitled to whole lane, bicycle cop saysConst. Hugh Smith, who helped found the Toronto police bicycle units back in 1989, has been riding the city's streets since he was 6. The Star spoke to the cycling veteran, who helps train officers around the country, as a neutral cycling voice in increasingly tense times for cycling in the city.
This incident has brought out the worst stereotypes of both motorists and cyclists. How would you characterize the relationship between the two?
Most motorists aren't educated enough, even in their driver's handbook. ... A cyclist has the right to an entire lane, even though they only occupy part of it. And it's up to them to dictate when they want to share.
Some cyclists don't understand that. If it's narrow, they have to push to the left and say, `No. I'm a slow-moving vehicle. Go around me.' But they tend to ride in that small area to the right.
What about giving tickets to those cyclists who break the rules, those rolling through or running lights?
If somebody comes up ... they've almost stopped, they've checked, they've looked, and they go through, that's not the type of cyclist that we're giving failing-to-stop tickets to; we're giving them to the ones who are blatantly going through, who are coming and saying ... "I'm beating the vehicles. I know they've got to stop but I don't."
