A Bicyclist's Dilemma

Over the past month, bicyclists have been under attack from all sides for their at times immature, insensitive and selfish actions while riding their bikes.

This latest attack began with the injury of a pedestrian crossing on a Toronto city crosswalk by a careless bike rider going the wrong way on a one-way street. With this single action all people riding bikes have been tarred with the same brush, vilified for all the ills on our city streets right up to but not including the cause of the ongoing city deficit. The Toronto Sun, The News Of The World for Toronto The (not-so) Good, even printed a headline "Axels Of Evil" on the cover of their print edition the following day.

It is obvious to anyone observing most activities by bicyclists that they don't generally adhere to the rules of the road. Some believe it's a simple case of ignorance and that licensing all bike users will solve the problem. Toronto council person, Denzil Minnan-Wong stated (and here I paraphrase) "We have licenses for cars and boats, bicycles are machines they should be licensed." Later he stated that the licensing process would force bike riders to take a test on proper road safety and will follow those rules.

Minnan-Wong's logic is a bit specious. All car drivers should be licensed and many of those users of the road fail to follow proper rules of the road. Also, should we then license lawn-mower users, weed-eaters, golf carts, electric table saws, jacuzzis... those electric vehicles people with mobility issues use (they may be licensed anyway??) but you get the point. Isn't this just adding another level of bureaucracy to an administration striving to cut government not increase it.

There's a dilemma that occurred to me today, if all of those car drivers want us bike riders to obey the rules of road (without always having to do it themselves), what happens when our activities just cause them delays. Here's an example:

Eglinton Ave. east of Yonge Street has signs restricting the use of the right (inside) lane to buses and taxis between the hours of 9am to 4pm. This doesn't include bikes. So to follow the proper rules of the road, bicycles should ride on the far right edge of the left lane (centre lane) during this period. The problem is drivers, ignorant of the road signs, easily become irritated by all bikes (because we don't follow the rules), honk at me by following the strict rules of the road.

What am I to do?