Here’s a quote from Accordion City city councillor Rob Ford in an article in yesterday’s edition of the Toronto Star:
I can’t support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.
The best summary of the problem with Rob Ford comes from a comment in the blog Raise the Hammer:
Ford is an idiot, there’s no defending that, but he highlights a common problem among City Councilors:
a. he does a great job at meeting his constituent’s needs. A recent Star article highlighted a day with Councilor Ford which found him working 12 hours, and visiting constituent’s homes personally, along with various city staffers, to address their complaints directly. Now that’s service. He is also ethically astute and regularly files the lowest expense reports of all Toronto Councilors. But:
b. he has a complete lack of understanding of how to build and manage a livable city. His ignorance is truly astounding.
The good news is that from this description, there’s hope for this guy — after all, as the saying goes, “Ignorance can be cured, but stupid is forever.”
What we need to do is build up a collection of the benefits of living in a cities with a good mix of pedestrians, bikes and cars, where a significant portion of the population use bicycles to get around.
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So, if sidewalks are made for people and roads are for cars trucks and buses, just where does Rob think people should ride bikes?
Someone just needs to show him the Highway Traffic Act where it clearly speaks to bicycles as vehicles on the road.
Idiot.
Re "livable city". Just because Ford has a different opinion than you with regards to bicycles doesn't mean that he is wrong. When bicyclists start obeying the rules of the road, e.g. stop signs, traffic lights, one way streets, etc., I'll happily share the road with them. Till then get off the road and onto the bike path.
So by your logic, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, because you've noticed people breaking the rules of the road, and those people happen to ride bikes, certain liberties (i.e. the right to use the roads) should be taken away from anyone who wants to travel by bicycle. Isn't this the same as saying that since I've noticed people in cars speeding, we shouldn't let cars on the road anymore? They can go and drive on special car tracks for their driving fun...and as far as trasportation: let them take the bus to work! Bicyclists rarely speed by the way,(mostly due to the fact that they can't hit the speeds that cars can)so using your logic, I say BAN THE CARS. The roads should only be for busses and bikes.
You're just being silly.
-Jim Haschmann
I disagree with the general idea of cycle lanes too, but for different reasons: those of their documented relative unsafety compared with the carriageway and the insidious way they encourage a small-minded subset of motorists to think that because the things are there (and because their taxes have paid for them), then cyclists should use them, at all times, even poor ones, even when they're the wrong lane for a turn you're proposing to make. Interactions with such people make journeys unpleasant.
But to your councillor: there is a distinction to be made between being at fault (for what, the pull-quote doesn't say) and thus deserving what lumps one gets, and willingly taking responsibility for one's actions in order to make the city one lives in more pleasant. Both he and one of the Anonymouses here seem to be confusing two kinds of cyclists which in reality are almost disjoint sets.
I'll also take a lesser responsibility for my fellow cyclists, which is why I'm prepared to explain my point of view to them, go on Critical Masses and help dissuade unhelpful behaviour, and just generally try to be a good citizen and integrated traffic. I do apologise to any motorist who's had a bad experience with a cyclist on the road; I'm sorry that there are some idiots who give the rest of us a bad name. Rest assured, we're not all like that.
By your logic, we should keep pedestrians off the road too. The amount of jaywalking in this city alone is enough to declare it a crime wave!
Does that mean that those of us (cyclists, but that shouldn't matter) who choose to strictly obey the rules of the road so can continue to integrate with other traffic in the normal, law-abiding way? Gee, thanks.
I thought that that was the existing deal though. Correct me if I'm wrong.
If motorists obeyed the rules of the road this discussion wouldn't be happening. I've been in a few accidents on my bike. Each time the result of a driver doing something stupid. Twice by cars making right hand turns, thinking they had passed me after assuming I was only doing 5km/h or something. Once by a cab driver who didn't like that I had signaled and was making a proper left turn from the left hand lane and tried to squeeze around my left side. Once a cab driver who had been in a right turn only lane and tried to squeeze back into the through traffic by running me off the road. I yelled at him and his response was to pull in front of me and slam on the brakes causing me to rear end him. I'm willing to pass off my door prize as an unfortunate accident although something that is much more easily avoided with bike lanes.
Rob Ford has said a lot of stupid things but this one is the winner for me.
When I first started riding to work in Toronto I found the bike lanes were more unsafe than riding with traffic. However over the years, I think most drivers have learned how to interact with the lanes and cyclists in a respectable way. The problem is the few bad apples(drivers) who continue to use the bike lanes as their own personal parking, turning and passing lanes.
Oh and yes there are a number of bad cyclists out there too. Rest assured I spend as much time yelling at them about running red lights as I do to the motorists.
And someone needs to remind bicycles that they are road vehicles and that means that stop signs, red lights, and lanes are not things that can be ignored.
Cool, so when I see someone driving a car breaking the law by, say, running a red light or not stopping fully at a stop sign, I can go ahead and run them down in my 18-wheeler?
That is so great. I am so glad to have that freedom.
Has anyone taken a look at what ward he represents?
http://www.toronto.ca/wards2000/images/ward02.gif
For a guy dedicated to "visiting constituent's homes personally" I'm willing to bet the farm that all of his constituents cheered "right on" when he said that.
Remember, unless he's planning on running for mayor, comments like this are his ticket to re-election.