Toronto’s annual Bike Week -- it has nothing to do with safety
The City of Toronto’s "Bike Week 2005" will be held between May 30 and June 12. Casual observers will note that this "week" actually consists of 14 days. Then again, as everyone who has paid at least a little attention to council attempting to balance the budget knows, the city mothers have a lot of trouble when it comes to counting.
Recently, Toronto recorded the tragic death of an 11-year-old boy who was struck by a garbage truck in the city’s west end. This death illustrates the danger of riding a bike in a city like Toronto and although no one can hold preteens to the same standard as adults are held, cycling in Toronto can be a dangerous activity. Even with the approach of the annual Bike Week, not much mention was made in the media about general bicycle safety. and there is practically no mention of bicycle safety on the City of Toronto’s website that sets out all of the events that are scheduled during the two week "week". The general city website touches on safety but it emphasizes the wearing of helmets and how to avoid those big bad automobiles.
Events that will be held during Bike Week 2005 consist of organized rides and tours, pancake breakfasts, lunches, repair shops, bicycle sales, auctions and special events for gays and lesbians (they must ride bikes differently). There are not only no major events scheduled about safety but there are no events emphasizing children who are the ones who need to be taught about bicycle safety. The politically correct City of Toronto doesn’t even attempt to hide what the true nature of Bike Week is. It is not so much pro-bicycle as it is anti-car. The purpose of Bike Week is not to increase road safety where bicycles are concerned but is designed to get more people riding bicycles and less people driving those awful cars.
There would be nothing wrong with encouraging cycling if drivers in this city weren’t treated as second class citizens. But we are. If the city only put in half the effort into improving roads and reducing gridlock as they do in promoting bikes and constructing bicycle lanes, Toronto would be a much better place in which to live and to get around. Not only is bike safety not a priority for this council (nor is safety when it comes to crime) but no attempt is ever made to enforce the rules of the road when it comes to cyclists. If the city was only one tenth as vigilant in enforcing the rules of the road when it comes to bicycles as it was in enforcing parking bylaws on the Victoria Day Monday, the city would be a much safer place to walk, cycle and drive in.
The police, who are busy prosecuting their own, eliminating racial profiling and occasionally catching bad guys don’t have the time or the inclination to enforce laws and bylaws when it comes to those who ride bikes. Too many adult bike riders; the ones that the city is spending mega bucks to encourage, pay absolutely no attention to traffic lights and stop signs. They ride their bikes will all the smugness of someone who is "saving the planet" and is therefore exempt from the laws that govern cyclists as well as drivers. Many of those who are being encouraged to ride bikes rather than drive, choose to bicycle on the sidewalks of busy streets such as Yonge or Danforth, weaving in and out around pedestrians, many of whom are elderly or toddlers. So they knock over the occasional little old lady; at least they’re not causing more pollution and in the end, that’s what seems to count.
Perhaps the City of Toronto might want to consider extending their "week" to 21 days next year and include lessons on how to ride safely and obey the rules of the road.
But it will never happen. Bicycle safety has absolutely nothing to do with council’s anti-automobile agenda.
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