A couple of years ago, I was…

A couple of years ago, I was sitting at my desk at 4:30 waiting to leave work. I heard sirens outside and didn't think much about it until I left my office. I learned that while I was sitting there counting down the minutes until I could leave work, a young cyclist was pinned under a car counting down the minutes until he died.

The young cyclist was killed by a car who disobeyed a traffic signal and illegally turned right on a red light, where it was prohibited. This event angered and saddened me and I began to think more critically about cyclist and pedestrian safety. Driver behaviour is unacceptable at the best of times and this legislation will support more poor driving behaviour and deaths. If that was your child, sibling, or parent trapped under that car taking their last breaths, you would think more critically about your decisions to remove bike lanes.

I want you to go out there and bike on a street without bike lanes. With cars roaring past you. With no barriers. With drivers threatening you. Yelling at you. Honking at you. All because you chose to use a sustainable mode of transportation. Because you don't have access to a vehicle or efficient transit. Because you wanted to exercise. Because you wanted to cycle.

You cannot make this legislation without putting yourself in the shoes of cyclists.