October 19th, 2009
Cyclists promote friendlier streets
By Matthew Blackett // 10 Comments
The last six months in Toronto has seen the bike vs. car rhetoric reach new heights, but the Toronto Cyclists Union is trying to change that. They have launched a campaign that aims to promote friendlier streets by having cyclists hand out "appreciation cards" thanking drivers who remember to give them their fair share of the road.
Any cyclist who wishes to take part in the campaign can pick up cards at the TCU's office at 215 Spadina Ave, 4th floor. Cards will be available at retail locations over the next few days.
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I don't like this. I am happy to wave and nod to decent drivers as an individual, but this is a lame approach as a group. It's a union, act like one. Do something that takes balls.
If you want success, make it about their children's health and safety, because most of the middle and upper class of Toronto only care about their property more than their children. They certainly care about nothing else.
The rhetoric has gone up? I suppose it has, but we've also had a rather horrendously ugly situation/killing on Bloor St., that does deserve some rhetoric.
http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=bryant+sheppard+enhanced+youtube&meta=&btnG=Google+Search
I also wonder where the Failure to Remain Charges are against Mr. Bryant, and am less convinced of the merits of a "thanks for not running over me" campaign, but we also need to tighten up our own two-wheeled passhole behaviour.
Hamish, nobody on a bike has to apologize to anyone in a car, ever. What risk are we to them? Their paint?
Poor people have cars too.
@ jamesmallon: your attitude is part of the problem and you're just plain wrong. I understand Hamish's comments to mean that cyclists are not without responsibility. If it were about who is a risk to who, then pedestrians have every right to shite all over cyclists who continue to ride on the sidewalk, fail to yield rights of way, pass on the inside when a streetcar is stopped, etc.
Share the road, be aware, you don't have more rights than anyone else. Drives me crazy how no one is willing to accept responsibility for their own actions. Its always someone else's fault.
Yes, I am the one getting people killed by cars, while I am walking or cycling.
Oh James, you truly are going to get nowhere. Back off to your angry little world now.
while there are a number of aware and considerate car drivers around, for some it is a good thing that a new paint job etc. is expensive, because there's a degree of obliviousness. Other times there's just a batch of cussedness and presumption of priority. And I don't think pedestrians are as threatened on a daily basis as cyclists are - sure we get a bit blase about it, but there's often a daily near-miss that if the forces involved were re-applied into some other object than one with four wheels, I think the police would be interested.
And yes, we cyclists can be dangerous too, but it's rarely lethal to pedestrians or other cyclists.
I'm in now way stating that when a car hits a bike its not more lethal. My comments are about responsibity. The streets and sidewalks of this City are jammed with people and vehicles. You cant simply point at one user as the problem.
I would be greatly surprised if in most collisions between bikes and cars both were not partially at fault. However, it will always be the car driver--if you use jamesmallon's reasoning--who is more responsible simply because they can do more damage. Reports of cyclists misbehaving is far less than that of other vehicles. How many pedestrians report a cyclist driving on a sidewalk? The best they ever get is a scolding from those they almost bowled over.
I like this. I was thinking about a way to say thank you to drivers the other day, as I was biking the monster hill on Weston Road near Rogers Road, and a car stayed behind me the whole time, keeping others off my back as I went up. It's tough enough on that hill with all the potholes, and so I was grateful to have the car there. I'll be picking some of these up, for sure.
Comment by KanuKodiak
October 19, 2009 | 3:09 pm