"Sincerely,
Ben Matlock"


edit: now I have the Matlock theme song stuck in my head. :D

Honestly, I personally don't believe that is ever going to happen in Toronto.

I think I'm just going to put that cycling video from Copenhagen on repeat and cry myself to sleep. :P

To: The Honourable Mayor Miller, City Council

In 2006 there have been 4 cyclist deaths by car so far. This represents the number for the entirely of the previous year. What are you doing about it?

I ride into work everyday of the year, and have been for several years. From the rhetoric spewing out of City Hall, I thought for years this was a good thing for many reasons. Was I wrong? Has an open season on cyclists been declared that I am unaware of? Is it a crime to ride my bike on Queen Street? If it isn't why do I keep having drivers narrowly avoiding me in their zeal to get to the next red light?

I am a VERY experienced traffic cyclist, I have been riding in urban traffic for the better part of 20 years. Several of those as a messenger in Montreal. I have NEVER been this afraid to ride to work EVER.
This morning a car had to grind me into the sidewalk at 30kms/hr so he might pass the streetcar. I may have broken my hand pounding on his car, but it didn't matter to him. He just kept moving me over with his front bumper. Had I been a less experienced cyclist I may be dead now. The real rub is that if the driver had WAITED 10-15 seconds, either I would have been past the streetcar or the streetcar past me. As it is we were in different lanes.
I didn't know it was legal for a car to pass a bike within 6 inches. Ever have this happen? It's harrowing to say the least even for experienced riders.

I asked a police officer a few weeks ago about the legally of riding in Toronto. He told me I was allowed to occupy the ENTIRETY of the curb lane as a cyclist. Is this true? Drivers certainly don't think so. Has anyone told the drivers? Did you, as a counsellor and a driver in this City know?
I'll bet you didn't, and the way I grew up is that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Drivers still think we should be on the sidewalks for crying out loud, or that foot and a half wide stripe of filth and broken glass beside the curb. I travel at 30-40kms easily, I stop at lights and stop signs. Why is it ok to kill me because I'm on a bike?

I'm also a licensed driver and I have never had the mindset that I owned the road. I share it with EVERYONE last time I checked.

I SHARE it with drunks staggering across the road.
I SHARE it with old ladies having trouble crossing fast enough.
I SHARE it with kids using the crosswalks.
I SHARE it with cyclists, no matter how many, how they ride, or even if it's rush hour or not.
I EVEN SHARE it with electric scooters using the curb lane like a bike should be allowed to.

It has never in my wildest dreams occurred to me to squeeze past a bike with so little margin for error that if the biker fell they would more than likely die or be seriously injured. I would consider this assault with a deadly weapon, aggressive AND careless driving.

Cyclists aren't using fuel, they aren't causing pollution, they aren't causing potholes. They are, however, our best bet that one day maybe every nice sunny summer day won't be a smog day.

It's unfortunate that as there are more and more cyclists on the road due to high fuel costs and the nicer weather that:

The police certainly haven't been briefed to do, oh say, ANYTHING about driver attitudes and their carelessness. A city-wide educational campaign hasn't been thought of, involving street signs, the media, the news, etc.
Driver education is the key to this issue, as it's them who are killing people. If a bike turns in front of my car I press the brake, and avoid, just let I'm supposed to.

It's odd that the cyclists know the law of the road better than the self proclaimed owners of the road.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? HOW MANY MORE HAVE TO DIE?
Do we want bike/car combat zone created on our streets?
I don't think we do, but your collective inaction is saying otherwise.


SO that is the letter I'm about to fire off.
I'm looking for editor emails for both print and TV news as well.

typo detector:
If a bike turns in front of my car I press the brake, and avoid, just let I'm supposed to.
Do we a want bike/car combat zone created on our streets?

also:
Speaking of the Copenhagen video, you might want to include that URL as well:
http://www.vejpark.kk.dk/byenstrafik...y/uk/index.htm

Hey! Go redesign our crappy school website! :D

edits done thankyou

STEEKER I got my first reply back ...... are they all going to be the same? :lol:

Eyefloater you have a copy of still we ride?

TRaffic Jammer . I hope you included how the stuff I mentioned in the previos post ? it really got some reply's anddddddddd dam I 've been asking this for more than a week but is anyone going to ride? today/this afternoon/night

I did include... I've gotten two "thank-you....your concerns will be brought to the attention....
I'm limping home tonight, I may be off the bike for a bit.

OH jeez reread.... I didn't add you're text mind you. Opps

You've got to be a special kind of ********, as a motorist, to hit someone turning left.

dam thats all you got ,,one that was sent to me had me legaley bound not to copy or post it but it did'nt say I could'nt talk about it :D my spelling sucks

TRaffic Jammer I could pull you home in my bike trailer if you want

:lol: no thanks I still gotta ride but I might not be able to grip the bar with my left.
I sense *shutters* a path ride. Maybe I'll get legalized by another councilor.

I really think it's time to ramp it up, before too many more die.

awww come on , you could give people the royal wave from the trailer as we drive by:)

Here's a link to the torrent file if you want to download it.

http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/50...f_Police_State

Yeah, I was getting it off that torrent but the amount of seeds/peer isn't too encouraging (1 to zero).

I'll save the waves for victory laps.
;)

must be my old farty computer the file won't open for me

AH right on man we still going to do the races ???:)

You need a BT client like www.bittornado.com
The file isn't the actual file, just a file that tells you who to get the actual file from.

P.S No religious debates over which client is the best kthx.

If you're on rogers you'll need to setup the client to talk trough port 1720 only as they've been packet filtering for a while now.

coolies .thanks operator . well see'ing no one wants to ride again! , I'm off to the Leslie Spit for a second fixed ride .

Meditate on this:

My friend Glen is training in High Park on the weekend and blazes through a speed trap on his bike. The cop has got a vehicle pulled over already and proceeds to pull over the car he's riding directly behind. At this point Glen pulls around the car, maintaining his speed (around 36 km/h) only to get waved in himself. He continues on, playing dumb, figuring the cop has enough to keep him busy. Shortly after he's set upon by a cruiser with lights a flashin' and siren's a wailin'. The cop laces into him about failing to stop and speeding. He says he clocked him doing 42 in a 20 km/h zone. My friend comes clean and says he didn't think he was going to go after him and apologizes. He didn't think he was going that fast (this is the west hill). The conversation escalates and the cop tells him he's gonna burn on 2 charges. He asks the cop to cut him a break, he's training for the Provincials and he made a mistake. He asks him for I.D., and here's where it gets silly. The cop starts to lose it when my friend tells he doesn't have any. The cop threatens to throw him into the cruiser and arrest him right then and there unless he gives him a correct name and address. The thing turns into an argument and the charge then becomes... get this... careless driving (6 points because he has a driver's license, and $300 + ). Suffice it to say he's going to fight it. It might be so ridiculous a charge that it gets thrown out. It's a hell of a slap on the wrist if the intent is to screw him over with the hassle of the court date and the stress over it all, but then again who knows? If it sticks his insurance may triple.

This very thing was the topic of conversation last week on the forum, about whether your driving record could be affected by a traffic violation on a bike. We'll soon find out.

Go to court - m'aam I was on a bike not a motor vehicle. You won't get points. About the fine - probably have to pay that.

If he truly was speeding on a 20kph bikepath then there isn't anything he can do about it since he is in the wrong. Failing to stop - also a very bad idea. Your account also reinforces the need to carry some sort of ID, if not they can hold you until they can ID you.

It's too bad there aren't really any good places to train anywhere downtown. Up here there's rural roads galore. Bah to bikepaths.

This from the toronto.ca website:

Does the demerit point system apply to cycling offences under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA)? In a word, NO. But does it happen? Yes, it can. Here's how it works. Cyclists and motorists can be charged under the HTA, with similar fines applying to both ($90 for most infractions).

Section 56 of the HTA allows the province to cancel or suspend drivers' licenses through a demerit point system. However, this applies only to infractions committed while driving a motor vehicle or streetcar. In order to avoid demerit points inadvertently being assigned to your drivers license for an infraction committed on your bicycle, the following must occur:

* The police officer laying the charge must write "bicycle" in the vehicle type box on the Provincial Offenses Notice.
* If you go to court, the courts must indicate "bicycle" in the vehicle type box on the conviction notice.

If the Provincial Offenses Notice or the conviction notice is received by the Ministry of Transportation without the "bicycle" designation, demerit points will be assigned to the driving record of the individual. If this happens, call the Driver Improvement Office at 416-235-1086 to have the error corrected. Better still, follow the rules and you won't get a ticket in the first place.

The careless driving ticket is pretty much the highest cost ticket there is. If he goes to court he can probably cop to a speeding ticket if the cop shows.

This is me not saying anything at all ... and giving Somnambulant an oportunity to maliciously edit a quote of what I've written.

Edit what?

Who invited Mr. I'm-better-than-you? :)

Shut it, Mr. Me-Too.

Okay seriously, let's all hug. I love you all.

Edit: Oh my ****ing god ... http://web.mit.edu/patil/www/media/video/yatta.asf

Asian people are weird. ;)

There are ton's of places to train down here why don't you come to the Beach and try our hills and there is the spit and bluffers park too