Mandatory bicycle helmets urged by Ontario coroner

[Rockslinger]

For those who are unaware, the law does allow kids and seniors to ride their bike on the sidewalk. Common sense allows any cyclist who feels unsafe on the road to also ride on the sidewalk.

 

[larry]

For those who are unaware, the law does allow kids and seniors to ride their bike on the sidewalk. Common sense allows any cyclist who feels unsafe on the road to also ride on the sidewalk.

while i support slow and careful sidewalk riding, especially in risky road zones, the law is not so finely tuned. 26" wheels cannot ride on the sidewalk legally. what the law does say is that the cyclist can use as much of the road as required to be safe. a whole lane if necessary. the failing is in driver education and law enforcement. we already have bike lanes. one on every street. politicians and police need to start making that clear. there's no need to waste money building separate bike lanes.

 

[MattRoxx]

I both cycle and drive and although I agree that there's bad drivers out there, I don't see cars constantly driving on the wrong side of the road, the wrong way down one way streets, sailing through red lights and stop signs without even attempting to slow down and driving at night without lights. Oh, and don't forget about all the cyclists who ride on the sidewalk weaving through pedestrians.

Maybe it's because I drive a car but I rarely have a problem with other motorist while on my bike. When I'm in my car I'm constantly avoiding nutcases on bikes. For example, I'll come to a 4 way stop and see a cyclist approaching from my left or right. It's almost like they expect you to remain stopped until they run the stop sign. If you pull out in front of them they more often than not give you a dirty look, yell at you or give you the finger.

I've seen cars drive the wrong way on one-way streets often. In fact when I was a volunteer on the Yonge Street 10K run, at different times, two cars came along, the wrong way on a one-way street, to see if they could cross Yonge Street. "Uh hey what's going on, can I just, uh, go across here?" While people were running on the blocked-off road.

And yes drivers often act confused at 4 way stops. The worst is when I'm stopped on bike and they're stopped and then they will sit there or wave me through even though they have the right of way. I'm standing there thinking "Just go already!"
And there's a little one-way called Sumach Street running between Queen and King, I see cars going the wrong way on it quite often.

Let's face it, drivers are often envious of the freedom a bike provides and if motorists thought they could fit a car on the sidewalk they'd be doing it all the time. "Oh there were no parking spaces left and I just wanted to run into that store for a minute so I thought it would be okay..."

 

[milehigh]

Darn tootin' . We all have to pay when these folks get injured. A helmet probably saved my friend's life when he got hit.

Helmets have become mainstream on ski hills.

And talk about protective equip... facial stuff should be mandatory in hockey. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing people bleeding from everywhere and spitting out their teeth.

Accidents are always from the unepected, the strange turns. Protective equip should be used.... that includes condoms.