Originally Posted by
patc
As someone who lives in Ottawa - and can therefore speak from experience and not some idealogical soap-box - I want to point out something. The street referred to - Bank - and many of the streets in our urban core are very narrow. In some cases (Wellington) the lanes are so narrow that a city bus's rear bumper actually overhangs the lane line one EACH SIDE...
You don't really think Ottawa is the only city with narrow streets, do you?
Kristina Urquhart seems to conveniently forget a few things with this article. Number one is that the vast majority of cyclists also own cars. Number two is nothing gives motor vehicle operators any special privilege to road use. If they're behind a bike with "nowhere to go" they can slow until it's safe to pass. It doesn't hurt.
She summarizes with:
So if the province is going to call these two-wheelers “vehicles,” bicycles need to start being treated as such – with proper planning and ultimately a safe place to ride. In return, cyclists need to respect cars and learn the rules of the road.
Total BS. She shows herself to be just another anti-cyclist. Respect and following traffic laws are a two-way street. Motorists wear no halos.
She comes across to me as an incompetent driver who is afraid.