Cyclists

I don’t know if it is because of social media or there are more cyclists being struck now.

It seems that every day either on the radio or on social media you hear about more cyclists being struck by vehicles. I am not sure if it is because everything is more available or if there really are more accidents involving cyclists.

One thing that I have noticed is that some cyclists think that they are above the law and that none of the traffic laws apply to them. I think this might be one of the reasons why there are the accidents as some cyclists think they can weave between the other vehicles on the road. Of course, a cyclist doesn’t need a license to be on the road but they should be applying the same common sense that is involved in using any other vehicle on a road.

Another reason why there could be more accidents involving cyclists is that so many vehicle riders are not looking out for the other things that are sharing the road. We have bicycle lanes in Toronto and there are so many pictures of vehicles either stopping or parking in those lanes. The bicycle lanes are there so that the bicycles don’t have to be sharing the same actual lane as other larger vehicles. There was recently an accident that I heard about because a passenger in a truck which was parked partly in a bike lane opened their door and knocked a cyclist off their bike. In this case the passenger didn’t look to see if there were any cyclists approaching and they didn’t even hear the cyclist ringing their bell.

There does seem to be a lot more cyclists on the road than before. Yes, cycling is an excellent source of exercise and it is a cheaper means of getting around as well. Both of these will have resulted in an increase of cyclists on the road. Getting too and from work on a bike would be really nice if there were more spots that were not sharing the same lane as other vehicles. Also, cyclists need to remember that wearing a helmet may not look the best but it could save our life. A helmet is in case you are in an accident and hit your head on the sidewalk or road.

So maybe social media is providing us with more notifications about accidents involving cyclists but maybe there are just more of them out on the roads now and that means a great chance of hearing about an accident. If you are one of the people that enjoy cycling that is great but remember you aren’t the only person on the road and a lot of the other vehicles are a lot bigger and heavier than you are.