I am not a cyclist, but I am…

I am not a cyclist, but I am OPPOSED to the proposed Bill 212. The proposed bill is irresponsible, out of touch, and harmful to all, including drivers.

Let me tell you why. When I was in university, I once used a friend’s bike to ride to school. Because I was learning to drive at the time, I knew I was supposed to use the road. I had been riding bikes on lanes so I thought I would do fine, but no, the entire trip was terrifying. I was constantly feeling I would be hit by cars. The trauma was so great I have not used the bike ever since, not even today.

A few years ago, I was downtown in Toronto, right near a major intersection, near Bay and Dundas, and I witnessed a bike being hit by a car. The person on the bike was literally flown into the air by about three metres.

A few weeks ago, during my usual bus trip in uptown Toronto, a bus had to slow down because a bike was on the road. Any driver would have encountered this scenario many many times.

Bikes are unsafe on roads and slow down cars. That’s why people ride on sidewalks, but bikes on sidewalks pose danger to pedestrians.

There’s an easy solution to this problem: Bike lanes, so that pedestrians can feel safe, and ideally well-separated bike lanes so that cyclists will not feel danger from cars. And with bike lanes cars won’t have to constantly slow down because, obviously, bikes are slower than cars.

For a government that shuts down the Ontario Science Centre when it posed no imminent danger, it’s unconceivable it would table a bill that will pose immediate danger to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike. Bill 212 is completely irresponsible.

Cars are being slowed down because bike lanes are disjoint. People are using bike lanes less than during COVID because people worry about being hit by cars. Instead of shutting down bike lanes, more bike lanes should be built so that they are continuous. THAT will make traffic go smoother.