Hi, I am an occasional…

Hi,

I am an occasional cyclist in Toronto. I take advantage of the Bike Share program and I ride carefully on bike lanes to get to appointments, work, and fun. A few months ago a car parked in a bike lane, and when I went around it I was doored and broke my wrist. It has affected my life since, as I have been recovering from my surgery. I am also an occasional driver, borrowing a car for work, getting groceries, and more.

I OPPOSE this bill, we need bike lanes. As a cyclist I feel safer having cycling infrastructure. It feels great to cycle in bike lanes to get everything I need done, and it's sometimes faster than transit.

As a driver I like driving down streets with bike lanes because I know I do not need to be afraid that I will hit a cyclist with my car. They are in their lane and I am in mine. When I drive on streets without bike lanes I sometimes get slowed down by cyclists because I cannot safety pass, usually because there is a row of parked cars on either side of the road.

The number one thing affecting traffic is cars! Cars, illegally parked cars and drivers acting carelessly. Cars that block the "box" as it was. I see this every single day as a driver, cyclist and pedestrian. I am frequently almost mowed down by cars that refuse to stop at pedestrian stop signals. What are we doing to combat this problem? Why aren't we ticketing bad drivers? Ontario has become lawless in it's driver enforcement. Frequently cars block intersections and then everyone is stuck.

Do not remove bike lanes, we absolutely need them for everyone's safety. Build more. Encourage more cycling, less driving, remove cars from the streets and traffic will improve.

Thank you.