Contentious bike lanes keep me safe

 Frank Bradley says cyclists will find riding on city streets safer if they make sure they are visible and ride predictably and alertly.

Photograph by : Jean Levac, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Saturday, May 20, 2006

Re: Dangerous middle ground, May 14.

I like and use the bike lanes Tom Spears thinks are dangerous.

I live near Cummings Bridge and cycle to visit my mother near Brittania four to five times a week. I use the bike lanes across the McKenzie King Bridge, and through Westboro, using that mini-lane he cited.

I have lived and daily cycled in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, as well as smaller cities. I typically cycle 8,000 to 15,000 kilometres a year. I normally cycle on the road and only occasionally on bike paths.

More than 80 per cent of bike accidents occur on bike paths. Of bicycle accidents that occur on roads, nearly 90 per cent of them happen at intersections where one of the two parties did something wrong, often the cyclist.

There are some ways to avoid accidents:

- Be visible and ride at least one metre away from the curb;

- Be obedient and highly aware of everything at all intersections;

- Be predictable and don't weave but ride in straight lines, and signal your moves.

I don't agree with Mr. Spears about the danger of riding in the centre of the road, as on the McKenzie Bridge. I have noticed, when I'm turning left and am riding in the centre of a road, almost on the yellow line, drivers (in both directions) most easily see me and are very aware of my presence. As I clearly signal my intended turn, the drivers see what I'm doing and seem to have no problem with me being out there, and I feel comfortable.

So I really like the bike lanes in the centre of the McKenzie Bridge, and the way they finish at both ends. At the east end there's a bike traffic light! What a marvellous idea! It works like a charm! I wish the city would apply this centre-lane solution to other bridges, like the nearby Laurier Bridge over the Rideau Canal, where drivers turning right (gearing up to get onto the Queensway) simply take over the bike lane, filling it with cars and trucks and squeezing cyclists out. A centre bike lane would be better.

Frank Bradley,

Ottawa